


Camera Shy

by vertebros



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Original Character Death(s), Slow Build, Swearing, bad skeleton puns
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-24
Updated: 2015-12-06
Packaged: 2018-05-03 03:26:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 38,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5274779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vertebros/pseuds/vertebros
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Another human falls to the underground and makes a promise to protect Frisk and return them to the surface, but it's a rather difficult task to accomplish when they keep dying.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First Fall

_Am I dead?_

You let your eyes flutter open, but you saw nothing but darkness. Tears sprang to your eyes. 

“Ah, no…I’m alive…”

You sat up and began rubbing your temples when you felt something warm and sticky. _Shit, I’m bleeding._ You wiped your hands on your jeans and tried to stand, but a piercing pang shot up through your leg. You hissed in pain as you fell back down. _It wasn’t supposed to be like this. It was going to be a nice day, for once it was going to be a good day._

At first, all you could see was darkness and bloodstained flower petals. Once your eyes adjusted to the lack of light, you began searching for your belongings. Your backpack was mostly torn to shreds, your phone was smashed to smithereens, and your granola bars were scattered throughout the floor. You still had a few bottles of water that made it, and from the corner of your eye you could see your Polaroid camera, laying there without a scratch. _Well at least one thing made it out okay._

You felt warm tears run down your cheeks and down your chin. You sniffed loudly and unapologetically. _God, I made a mistake in leaving the house today._

“FUCK IT ALL!” you screamed at the top of your lungs. It wasn’t fair. You were alone, injured, and on top of it all, you had absolutely no clue as to where you were. Well, you knew you were in a dark pit at the base of Mt Ebott but you had absolutely no clue as to how to get out. You couldn’t even see the sunlight anymore you were so deep beneath the surface. 

“Oh my.”

You whipped your head towards the new voice that joined you. You heard a soft padding of footsteps coming closer. Instinctually, you covered your face with your arms in defense. Your heart leapt into your throat, preventing you from saying anything to whoever entered. 

“I…I cannot believe it, it’s another human, and so soon. Child, are you alright? You appear to be injured.”

It was a woman’s voice. Motherly. Sweet. Like honey. You nodded slowly and lowered your arms to your sides. A friendly face smiled at you. She looked…a bit like a goat? You weren’t really sure. A warm hand (…paw?) found its way to your shoulder. You recoiled a bit, your shoulder really stung, probably from cuts or bruises from the fall. 

“Oh, I am so sorry. Did I hurt you?” her hand was removed immediately.

You shook your head and said it wasn’t her fault. 

“Well, this is no place for a human to be. Come with me, child. I will take you someplace safe.” Her voice sounded so comforting, but you weren’t sure if you should trust this woman. _Unfortunately,_ you thought, _I’m not in a position where I can refuse help._ You hesitantly lifted yourself to your feet, wincing in pain as your leg throbbed.

The woman put an arm around you to lean on and guided you with her other hand…her very furry hand. 

“Thank you.” You manage to get out in a hoarse whisper.

“Of course, my child. Oh, but I must ask…how do you feel about butterscotch-cinnamon pie?”

****************************************************************************************************************************************

You’ve learned that the woman who saved you was named Toriel, and that you had landed in the ruins of the Underground.

You had, of course, heard of the rumors surrounding disappearances at Mt Ebott and the Human-Monster War, but you chalked it all up to hearsay. You figured that the whole thing sounded like a fairytale or the plot to a bad videogame. Yet, here you were.

Toriel reminded you a bit of your grandmother: she baked pies, was constantly bustling about, and always worried about your well-being. She healed the injuries you had on your shoulder, leg, and head with some magic as soon as you arrived to her home.

“I apologize…I do not have much here for you to do besides some books. There are a few toys left in one of the guest rooms.”

You chose not to mention that you were long past the age where playing with toys was acceptable. Instead, you shrugged and said, “Don’t worry about it. Frisk should have them.” 

Frisk…Toriel mentioned how she found Frisk laying in the same patch of flowers just three days prior. They were also banged up pretty badly, but Toriel had healed them as well. From what you’ve gathered, Frisk couldn’t have been more than maybe eight or nine years old. It broke your heart to hear that a child so young was now trapped in the Underground for, well, indefinitely. 

However, the predicament at hand didn’t seem to bother Frisk nearly as much as it bothered you. In fact, they didn’t seem scared or worried at all. Their brave heart filled you with determination. 

The two of you remained at Toriel’s for nearly a week and you were adjusting well to your new surroundings. You could tell that Toriel was excited to have company, and you didn’t mind complying when she asked if she could read you stories or make you lunch. It felt nice to be doted on, you couldn’t remember the last time you had an adult fawn over you. You took several pictures of the three of you together. You told Toriel that you wanted to make a scrapbook. It was nice living with her.

But, like all good things, this couldn’t last. One afternoon, Frisk ran up to you and tugged at the hem of your shirt.

“We have to go now,” they said urgently. 

“Go where?” 

“To the rest of the Underground so we can go home.”

You pulled Frisk away from your body and you crouched down to meet the top of their head. “Kid, we are home. We’ve lived here for weeks. We have food, shelter…you even call Toriel ‘mom.’ I don’t understand, why do you need to go to the surface?”

Frisk didn’t respond and you listened as their footsteps softly padded their way through the hallway. You sat down and leaned back against the wall. Home? Is anyone up there looking for me? You pushed the thought aside. 

You heard Frisk’s tiny steps come back and they handed you a piece of paper. You frowned.

“It’s a picture of the stars. I miss them.” Frisk stated simply. 

Ah. Yeah. There weren’t exactly a whole lot of stars in the skies of the Underground. Was there even a sky in the Underground? Still…it unnerved you that Frisk missed seeing the sky and not their parents or friends or home. You eyed them suspiciously.

Frisk hesitated before they tacked on a hasty, “Well. That’s not really my whole reason. I don’t think we’re supposed to be here this long. And…if we don’t leave soon I’m afraid something bad’s gonna happen.” 

Did Frisk feel as though they were overstaying their welcome? You were pretty sure Toriel knew this living arrangement was permanent. But…Frisk was looking really worried about this “bad thing” that was supposedly going to happen. You were going to tell them ‘no,’ that you were the adult and they were the kid and they were going to stay put, but you were worried. You wouldn’t put it past them to just run off on their own and if they died out in a ditch in the middle of nowhere because you wouldn’t go…well, you wouldn’t be able to live with yourself.

“Well, kiddo, I promise I’ll do my best to get us out of here then.” This heartfelt and sincere promise fills you with determination, even though you had absolutely no idea how to get back home.

You decide to go to Toriel for some advice.

“Hello my child, I’m reading a fascinating book about snails. Would you like to hear an interesting fact?”

“Maybe later, I need to ask you something.”

Toriel removed her glasses and smiled at you. “Well I hope I have an answer for you. What is it?”

“Frisk and I…well mostly Frisk really…we need to leave the Underground and get home. Do you have any idea where an exit might be?”

Toriel’s face sunk and she let out a low, nervous chuckle. “A-are you sure you don’t want to hear about that snail fact?”

“Toriel, this is serious.”

She stood up abruptly, forcing you to take a few steps back. Her face was filled with sadness. You could make out the tears welling up in her eyes. She walked past you, saying a small “Excuse me.”

“Toriel, where are you going?” But you heard her footsteps disappear too quickly. You furrow your brow and call for Frisk. 

They emerge with two backpacks and offer you one. They also give you a windbreaker. “You’ll need it,” they said cryptically. 

“Probably won’t do me much good with shorts and sandals then, will it?” you ask. You were starting to feel very suspicious about Frisk. “Should I go try and find pants?”

Frisk looks around and then gazes up at you. “Where is Toriel?”

You shrug. You tried to explain what happened in your conversation, but about halfway through your story, Frisk let out a cry and started running. You watched as they hurried down the stairs to an area Toriel had previously forbidden you from entering. You had assumed it was a basement. Why on Earth would Frisk run down there?

You started running after them, calling out for them to come back because you were sure Toriel would come back soon. You hit the bottom of the stairs and saw Toriel and Frisk at the end of the hall. _Thank goodness_ , you thought to yourself. You approached the pair and put your hands on Frisk’s shoulders. 

Toriel looked at you, still teary-eyed. “You wish to return ‘home’ do you not?”

You glanced down at Frisk, who looked very determined. You nodded, even though you yourself were not entirely sure about returning “home.”

Toriel sighed and said, “Ahead of us lies the end of the ruins. It’s a one way exit to the rest of the Underground…I’m going to destroy it. No one will ever be able to leave again. Now…please, be good children and go back upstairs.”

“WHAT?!” You screamed. You couldn’t believe your ears. You had thought Toriel would be reasonable about this. In fact, you were certain that she would be a guide to helping you out of the underground. 

“Come on!” Frisk said, grabbing your hand. “We need to go!”

You rush to Toriel again, and you pitifully ask her why she is doing this. 

“Every human who falls down here meets the same fate. I have seen it again and again. They come. They leave. They die. You’re so naïve…if you leave the ruins…They…Asgore…will kill you. I am only protecting you, don’t you understand? Go…go to your room.”

Her words sent a chill down your spine. You wondered if she was ever a mother because if not she had great motherly instincts. You bit your lip in worry and you weren’t too sure that leaving the ruins was such a good idea. You glanced down at Frisk, whose hands were balled up into little fists. 

“Kiddo…I’m not going to let you walk out that door and die. Maybe it would be best if we stayed.” You doubted reasoning will work, but you felt as though you had to try.

Frisk grabbed the hem of your shirt and said, “I’m afraid, but I can go alone if you won’t come with me.”

You let out a breath and pat the top of their head. Damn this kid sure had guts and bravery. Way more than you did, anyways. “No, I made a promise to you. We can do this together, can’t we?”

Frisk looked up at you and smiled sweetly. _Okay,_ you thought, _this…this will be fine. We can talk Toriel out of this for sure…right?_

You continued down the hallways of the ruins until you saw Toriel up ahead. “Toriel, wait! We can come to an agreement, I’m sure we can!”

Toriel couldn’t even meet your eyes. “Do not try to stop me,” she said. “This is your final warning.”

You hold out your hand to Frisk, who takes it immediately. Their hand is so small in yours and your heart swells. _Alright, I will protect you. I will._ The thought of getting Frisk home fills you with determination. 

The two of you walk towards the door, where Toriel is standing. She doesn’t turn around, but you are certain she can hear you. “You want to leave so badly?” she scoffs. “You’re just like all the others.”

“Toriel,” you start, “we don’t want to hurt you. You’ve been nothing but gracious and kind. The world truly does need more people like you in it. I just…Frisk just needs to get back to the surface. It’s where they belong.” 

Toriel’s shoulders shake and she whispers, “Prove yourself.”

“I’m sorry?”

She turns, pain clear on her face. “I said prove yourself strong enough to survive!”

During your back and forth, Frisk had gotten in between you and Toriel and was now shielding you. Instinctually, you grabbed their arm and forced them behind you. You suddenly felt a strong tugging at your chest. In the distance, you could hear Frisk’s tiny protests of ‘No, wait! Stop it, fight me instead!’ You wondered if they knew something you didn’t. _Heh, probably._

The tugging got stronger and it felt as though you were floating. Your vision was hazy and you couldn’t hear anything that was happening around you. Was this the fight? You were really confused. The air grew cold and there was a tight squeeze in your chest where the tugging once was. You felt both blissful and paralyzed. At ease and also frenzied. 

And as soon as this feeling started, it suddenly stopped. You were surrounded in complete darkness, save for a softly glowing, shimmery white heart. 

“That’s your soul.” 

You tore your eyes away so you could look up to see Toriel standing over you. She looked sad as she gave you a patient smile. You stole another glance at the heart. “Really?”

“Yes. I’m so sorry you had to see it this way, my child.”

You had so many questions you wanted to ask, but you barely had time to process the fact that you could actually see your soul – that it was a totally normal thing – before Toriel started sending bursts of fire magic at you. 

Now, you had seen Toriel use magic before (and yeah, magic being a thing weirded you out as well) but you thought it was way cooler when it wasn’t aimed right at your face. You grabbed your soul and covered it with your hands trying to prevent any damage to it. You narrowly missed her attack and only the edge of a fireball grazed your arm. You released your soul from your palm before taking a breath. 

“It’s your turn.” 

You looked at Toriel strangely. You tenderly rubbed the arm she caught and said, “I’m not fighting you.”

**_[MERCY]_ **

She sends another wave your way. You do your best to dodge the attack, but a few shots of fire catch your hands. You hissed in pain, and Toriel winces. When you realize it’s your turn to fight, you shake your head.

“What are you doing?” she asks. Toriel tries striking you again, although you notice a larger gap between the fire. Perhaps she was showing you some kind of mercy?

“I suppose I’m sparing you.”

**_[MERCY]_ **

Toriel grits her teeth. “Attack me or run away!” she shouts. She fires another round at you but you can tell that she is not into this fight at all.

“I can’t Toriel. I can’t hurt you, but I can’t give up on Frisk either.”

**_[MERCY]_ **

“What are you proving by doing this? Fight me or leave!” She sends more fire your way, but now it avoids you entirely. 

You could only shake your head.

**_[MERCY]_ **

“I know you want to go home but please go back upstairs. I promise I’ll take good care of you and Frisk. It isn’t the same, but we can have a good life together. Why must you make it difficult?”

At this point, Toriel had outright stopped attacking you, and you had never felt so small in your life. You finally got what your mother meant when she said she wasn’t mad, just that she was so disappointed. 

“I have to go. Think of Frisk.” 

Toriel let her arms drop to her sides. Her head hung low. “Ha…ha…that is what I thought I was doing. It’s pathetic isn’t it? I cannot…I cannot save even one child.”

You wanted to reach out and give Toriel a hug. You began to feel the tears form in your eyes. You were suddenly filled with a sense of guilt. You shook your head and tried to reassure her as best as you could. “I will be there. I will protect them, I promise. They won’t die if I can help it, they won’t.” You were rambling but you couldn’t find it in yourself to stop. You weren’t sure if you were trying to comfort Toriel or yourself. 

“I understand…the ruins…they get rather small, once you know how to get around. I know neither of you would be happy here. I suppose it is not a good place to raise a child.”

The sensation you felt before came rushing back. Toriel’s face began to blur and you felt chills and squeezing as your soul fell snuggly back into your chest. You looked around to see yourself back in the ruins. Frisk was staring up at you, eyes wide and filled with admiration and…pride? You stroked their hair and turned to Toriel.

“If you wish to leave the ruins, I won’t stop you. However…once you leave…please do not come back. I hope you understand.”

You didn’t understand. Not one little bit. Her words cut you like a knife. You felt guilty and miserable, like maybe if you had done something differently she would have let you go with her blessing. 

Toriel gave you and Frisk a goodbye hug. You held on with all your might. Was Toriel always this soft and warm and motherly? You felt the sudden urge to call your mom, even though you knew you couldn’t. 

When you pulled back, Toriel hurriedly ran down the corridor back to her house. You tried to call out for her, but Frisk grabbed your wrist and said that the two of you had to go. You could see tearstains on their cheeks, clumsily wiped away by their sweater sleeve. Right, an eight year old couldn’t hold it better together than you, you had to be strong. 

Together the two of you pushed open the door and moved onwards.

********************************************************************************************************************************************

Okay, so Frisk was right, the windbreaker was definitely necessary, but so were those pants you were joking about. It was absolutely freezing out, and you could feel your toes start to fall off from frostbite. If you knew you were going to be parading around in the snow, you would have brought some sweatpants or at least some boots. 

Along the way, Frisk briefly explained HP and your options if you were ever to get into a fight. You didn’t bother asking why they knew so much when you knew so little because fuck it, you have accepted the fact that Frisk clearly had a better sense of reality than you did or maybe they were just paying attention to Toriel while you frolicked in the gardens.

Your teeth were chattering and you desperately clung to the warmth inside your jacket, but it didn’t do much for your shaking legs. You held onto Frisk’s hand as you walked through the snowy forest. It was a really pretty sight, the smell of pine hung in the crisp air, the piles of what looked like freshly fallen snow were glistening, and there was a satisfying crunch your feet made with every step. It reminded you a bit of home in the winter. You remembered your camera and rummaged through your backpack. Thank goodness Frisk thought to pack it, this was truly a once in a lifetime shot. 

Frisk was still talking animatedly as you took the photo when you suddenly heard a loud snap coming from right behind you. You placed a protective arm around Frisk and turned around. A large branch, too large to be broken with human footsteps, had been smashed into several pieces. You cautiously inched towards the pile of broken sticks and swiped one. Holding the stick defensively, you called out, “Don’t mess with me, I have…a stick…”

Well, it sounded better in your head. Frisk patted your arm in reassurance and the two of you started walking again. 

The once peaceful landscape now seemed all too dark and creepy for the both of you to keep walking in. You were constantly glancing into the darkness between the trees and foliage. You swore you could feel eyes watching you, but that would mean someone was following you. You shivered, but not from the cold.

Up ahead you could see a shallow creek with a bridge running across it. You hoped that meant you would be seeing some people soon. You cheered up and squeezed Frisk’s hand and was about to tell them how excited you were when you heard crunching footsteps coming from behind you.

Your blood ran cold and you stopped dead in your tracks. _What are you doing you moron, run away!_ Your grip on Frisk got tighter, but you could feel yourself shaking uncontrollably. Was this your death? Could you really not even make it a single day out of the ruins? And you had promised Toriel…

The footsteps stopped, but you couldn’t bring yourself to look behind you. 

“Hey, don’t you know how to greet a new pal?” The voice sounded as if it were only coming a few inches from your ear. You were still frozen in place. “Turn around and shake my hand.”

Frisk wiggled out of your grasp and darted around you to greet the stranger. You whirled around them, trying to stop them because – seriously, had they never heard of stranger danger?

“Frisk wai-” you were cut off by a loud noise that sounded like, “wai-wh-what?”

“Heh, the ol’ whoopee cushion in the hand trick. It’s always funny.” 

You openly stared at your new…pal? An actual, literal, walking, talking skeleton. Large blue coat, black shorts…pink house slippers? You felt your heartbeat start to slow down. Not very threatening looking for a skeleton. 

“Take a picture, buddy, it’ll last longer.”

You glanced down at the Polaroid still in your hand. You raised it up. _Click._ The click and flash of your camera surprised him. The photo came out of your Polaroid and you shook the piece of film. Ha, that will show him. Frisk came and peered over your arm. They laughed and said, “That’s a keeper.” You ruffled their hair and flicked the picture over to the skeleton.

_Ball’s in your court, **buddy.**_

The skeleton eyed you suspiciously, but pocketed the photo. He offered his hand out to you and said, “You never shook my hand, ya know.”

“You got another whoopee cushion up your sleeve?” 

“No.” 

“I don’t believe you.” He had this shit-eating grin that made you feel uneasy.

“Do I look like the kinda guy who’d tell a _fib-ula?_ ”

Did. He. Just. 

You held up your hands in defeat. Fine, you’ll play nice. You extended your hand out to grasp his and when your hands connected you honestly felt a bit creeped out, you had never touched bone before – not like this anyway – and it was sending all kinds of bad vibes crawling down your back. The skeleton’s grin widened and he made the handshake a bit firmer and suddenly you felt a zap in your palm and an electric jolt surged through your body. 

“Ah, shit!” you cursed, yanking your hand away. 

“Heh, handbuzzer. Not as good as a whoopee cushion, but ya know, what can ya do?” The skeleton smirked at you.

“You said you didn’t have anything!” You accused. 

“I hate _tibia_ the one to break it to ya, but you only asked about whoopee cushions. I am a skeleton of my word.” You noted that he also looked rather pleased with himself, but before you could think of something to say, he continued, “I’m Sans by the way. Sans the skeleton. You two are humans right? That’s hilarious. I’m actually supposed to be on watch for humans right now but…ya know, I don’t really care about capturing anybody.”

You weren’t really certain he could capture you even if he tried. 

“Well that’s great Sans, but Frisk and I-”

“But my brother Papyrus, he’s a human-hunting fanatic,” Sans looked past you into the distance. He focused his attention back towards you and said, “I actually think I see him coming this way. Come on, I have an idea.”

Sans led you and Frisk into a nearby clearing. He turned to Frisk and said, “Hey, kiddo, why don’t you go hide behind that conveniently shaped lamp over there?” Frisk nodded and scurried over. Sans was right…it was very conveniently shaped. 

You spotted a sentry station and started walking over, but Sans pulled on your hand. Once again you felt the creepiness of bone touching skin, but you tried not to think about it. “What is it?” you hissed.

Sans looked as though he were pondering something. His eyes flickered up so he was looking behind you. He looked at you again and then pushed you into a bush. Before you could protest he pushed you in further and turned his attention towards…something that was coming your way.

You couldn’t believe he pushed you into a fucking bush.

_That skeleton is going to get a piece of my mind, yes he is._

You focused your attention back to the bickering. You figured that whoever Sans was talking to was Papyrus. Was he a skeleton too? They were arguing over puzzles. God, whatever was in this bush was making you itchy. One more reason you should have brought pants. 

“I was just uh…checking out this bush over here,” _WHAT_ “wanna see?” You knew you couldn’t trust him. Never trust a man (skeleton?) who thinks whoopee cushions are funny. 

“NO! I DON’T!”

“Heh…what about that lamp over there. It’s really cool. What about that instead?” 

The thought of the human-hunting skeleton finding Frisk startled you and you shot out of the bush, “N-no!”

Papyrus definitely looked more menacing than Sans did. He towered over you by at least a foot if not more. His cheekbones were sharper and his clothes looked more like what you would imagine someone going into the human-hunting business might wear. Well…you weren’t too entirely sure what that would look like exactly, but it definitely wasn’t as comforting as Sans’s rumpled loungewear. You started shaking and you prayed you didn’t faint and die here. That would be embarrassing. 

“Sheesh, kid,” you heard Sans mumble. 

“OH MY GOD. SANS, IS THAT A HUMAN?”

Even though the question wasn’t directed at you, you offered up a meek, “…yes?”

You watched as Papyrus’s eyes widened with excitement. He could barely contain himself as he continued talking, “SEE SANS, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM ON THE WAY TO CAPTURING A HUMAN. SOON, I WILL GET ALL THE THINGS I SO RIGHTFULLY DESERVE. RESPECT, RECOGNITION, POPULARITY. HUMAN, WE WILL GO THROUGH A SERIES OF PUZZLES BEFORE I CAPTURE YOU. STEP FORWARD WHEN YOU ARE READY. NYEH-HEH-HEH.” Papyrus started to walk away, but then seemed to have thought of something and turned back. “AND SANS, MAYBE IF YOU WEREN’T SUCH A LAZYBONES, YOU COULD HAVE BEEN THE ONE TO CAPTURE THIS HUMAN.”

“Well, I guess that saves me the trouble from having to ask you to play along.” Sans shrugged. 

“I can’t believe you pushed me into a bush.”

“Heh, you better _be-leaf_ I did.” 

You were starting to question if he only pushed you there in order to make that joke. You would not put it past him.

“But, hey, if it makes you feel better, my brother isn’t very dangerous. Even when he tries to be. And if he is, don’t worry pal, I got my eyesocket on ya.”

That didn’t really reassure you as much as you hoped it would. You turned your attention to the conveniently-shaped lamp and called out, “Frisk, hey, it’s time to go meet Papyrus I guess. I mean, you should probably find a hideout or something.” You waited for them to appear, but no one came. You ran over and saw that they were missing. You felt your heart leap into your throat. No, no, no. They couldn’t be gone. They wouldn’t leave you like that. You looked around for Sans to ask for help, but he was also gone. 

“OH MY GOD SANS, IS THAT ANOTHER HUMAN?”

Your breath caught in your throat. You ran in the direction of the voice, losing your flip flop in the process, not that it was doing you any good. 

When you finally caught up, you saw Frisk standing with a sweet smile on their face. The skeleton brothers were bickering again. You knelt down and pulled Frisk close to you and started stroking their hair. “Please don’t run off like that again,” you said. “I don’t think my little heart can handle it.”

“I’m sorry,” Frisk apologized. They looked down at their feet. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

You let out a breath you hadn’t known you were holding. Okay, so you lost them momentarily. No big deal. You can keep living your life like this – half worried for the kid and half worried your toes were going to fall off from frostbite. This was fine. Totally fine. Completely fine.

“I…I can’t do this,” you choked out. Tears started falling quickly down your cheeks. You gasped for air and began sobbing. Your legs gave out and you curled up in the snow, resting your head in your hands. “I’m sorry kid. I know I promised I’d get you out but…but…but-”

“HUMAN, WHY ARE YOU LEAKING?”

“I mean it hasn’t even been an hour since we’ve left the ruins and I’ve already let you down. This is all a mess and I…and…”

“HUMAN, YOU ARE CLEARLY IN DISTRESS.”

“Frisk, I don’t know how you’re holding yourself together, I really don’t. God, I can’t even walk you through a forest without running into killer monsters, I don’t know how I could have ever thought I’d be able to help you back to the surface. Frisk, I’m so sorry,” you began to hiccup. “I just…” you felt your eyelids start to droop. “I’m so…” When did you get so tired? You felt the day’s events catch up to you. Wow, you were such a weenie.

You promptly passed out.

********************************************************************************************************************************************

When you woke up, you felt something snuggle up beside you. You sat up in surprise. You looked around frantically. It looked as though you were in bed at an inn of some sort. Lying beside you was Frisk, bundled up in a stack of blankets. You noticed that you were now in sweatpants and had a pair of thick wool socks on your feet. Off to the side of the bed was a pair of worn-in boots that looked about your size.

You weren’t really sure how you were feeling.

Well, no that wasn’t true.

First and foremost you were embarrassed at that whole outburst. What an impression. You weren’t even totally sure where it came from. But if it led to the two skeletons pitying you and taking you out from the cold, you were almost grateful. 

Second to embarrassment was confusion. As in where the hell were you? And where did Sans and Papyrus go off to? Did this mean you were free?

“Mmmm,” you glanced over to see Frisk rub their eyes blearily. 

“Frisk, oh, I’m sorry did I wake you? Are you okay?”

Frisk nodded and put their arms around you. “You’re doing great,” they said. “I promise you’re taking good care of me. I’ve never even stayed at the inn before.”

You stroked their back softly. You could hear the faint sound of snoring from the room next to yours. You sighed deeply and embraced them. The warm moment filled you with determination. 

“Um…so I hate to ask, but what happened after I…?”

Frisk giggled and said, “Well, Papyrus insisted on postponing the puzzles until you felt better because,” they stood on the mattress and raised their voice, “THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS THE FAIREST OF ALL SKELETONS, BOTH IN ETHICS AND IN LOOKS.”

You laughed out loud at Frisk’s impression. It was the first time you had a good laugh in a while. “That was spot on, kiddo,” you praised. “What about Sans? Crack any jokes I should know about? Make any remarks on how _dead tired_ I must’ve looked? Or, or, no wait, he probably said I was _chilled to the bone_. Right?” 

Frisk suddenly looked very uncomfortable. They bit their lower lip, which made you worry. They tore away from your gaze and said, “He said something about a shortcut, and then he picked you up and left. Papyrus and I followed…but he made me do some puzzles so he wouldn’t feel dishonest about letting a human through. By the time we got here, you were asleep and the innkeeper told me the room was already paid for.”

Oh. You certainly weren’t expecting _that_.

You thought about the new clothes and where they came from and the gift had a new meaning attached to them. Your cheeks colored in embarrassment. You flopped back down onto the mattress “Tch. Didn’t think they’d care if we lived or not.”

Frisk said nothing, but they huddled closer to you. A few more hours of sleep couldn’t hurt. 

********************************************************************************************************************************************

“HUMAN, I AM GLAD TO SEE THAT YOU ARE FEELING BETTER. IT WOULD BE A SHAME IF YOU COULD NOT PUT FORTH YOUR MOST VALIANT EFFORT TOWARDS COMPLETING MY PUZZLES. THEY ARE QUITE DIFFICULT, YOU SEE, AND IF YOU WERE NOT AT PEAK STRENGTH, I WOULD CLEARLY WIN, BUT IT WOULD NOT BE AN HONORABLE VICTORY.”

After you woke up the next morning and ate a cinnabunny, you felt much better about your predicament. Frisk told you not to worry too much about the puzzles, so you tried your best not to.

Papyrus had led you back (blindfolded of course, so you would not see the puzzles) to the area where you had your breakdown the day before. You insisted on leaving Frisk behind at the inn, but they said they wanted to come just in case. Papyrus said it would be unfair to get Frisk’s help, but moral support would be allowed.

Frisk was right when they told you the puzzles wouldn’t be too difficult. A series of turning x’s and o’s and a color board with rules you didn’t really understand (in the end, Papyrus told you to turn on the machine yourself, but the lever was frozen over). Sans even had a word search for you to complete. You were really getting the swing of things and it was even, dare you say it, fun. 

“Hey, thanks for playing along. My brother seems really happy,” Sans said.

You gave him a hesitant nod. If you were being honest with yourself, the only reason you didn’t grab Frisk and run was because you now felt as though you were indebted to them. Not as though you would say that to Sans though; some information you were going to keep for yourself. He acknowledged your nod with a smile, and you kept walking. 

In front of you was a plate of frozen spaghetti and a microwave that was not plugged into anything. 

“Don’t get distracted by the spaghetti,” Frisk warned. 

According to the note, Papyrus left behind the plate of pasta as a…trap? You tried to take it with you, but it was frozen to the table. You tried to imagine Papyrus hovering over a stove making the noodles in a ‘Kiss the Cook’ apron. It seemed so ridiculous and unlikely, but you started giggling anyways. Frisk tried asking you what was so funny, but you couldn’t explain yourself through bursts of laughter. Trap or not, the gesture still seemed very sweet. You would have to remember to give him a candy bar or something. Do skeletons even like candy? 

You and Frisk walked a little further until you came to a long, rickety bridge. You glanced down at Frisk, who gripped onto your hand tightly. “Do you know what this is about?” you asked.

Frisk shook their head hesitantly and you lifted them into your arms. “It’ll be okay,” you whispered, “I’ll carry you across.” 

You stepped onto the bridge and began walking. You could see Sans and Papyrus waiting for you on the other side. You smiled softly, happy to see them there. You were about to call out to them when Papyrus began to shout.

“HUMAN AND TINY HUMAN, THIS IS YOUR FINAL AND MOST DANGEROUS CHALLENGE.”

You squeezed Frisk even tighter. Was your challenge going to be crossing the bridge? You shifted Frisk in your arm. You nodded at Papyrus to show that you were ready. He looked apprehensive, so you decided to encourage him by shouting back, “Lay it on me! We’re ready for this!” 

Papyrus’s face brightened, and his smile filled you with warmth. What a sweetie. “BEHOLD! THE GAUNLET OF DEADLY TERROR!” 

Your eyes widened as you watched weapon after weapon materialize around you. Papyrus was still monologing, but you couldn’t hear anything anymore. Your legs began shaking and your throat was dry. So…that’s how it was? You really were going to die? You glanced behind you. It was slim, but it was a chance. You turned around and began to run. 

“WAIT, HUMAN.”

You didn’t stop. The bridge was shaking from your weight, and you prayed that you would make it to the end. You took a few more steps and you were across. You set Frisk down and placed a hand over your wildly beating heart. 

“Frisk, it’s okay, we’ll find another way out of here. I promise you, I promise.”

“HUMAN, I-”

You pivoted to protect Frisk, but you forgot how slippery snow could be. As you turned, you lost your footing and you fell down the cliff. As you fell, you saw Papyrus grab Frisk and cover their eyes and you watched as Sans moved trying to save you.

You screamed in terror the whole way down, your lungs overflowing with icy air, until you hit your spine on a jagged rock. 

You watched as your soul left your body, still beating before shattering into a dozen pieces.

Now you were dead.

**[RESET]**


	2. First Date with a Skeleton

_God, my back is killing me._

You let your eyes flutter open. You only saw darkness. You sat up and tried to stretch, but your back felt as though you had been sleeping on a bed of nails. You squinted at the sky above you, figuring you must’ve injured it during your fall. Wincing in pain, you pulled yourself up to your feet and started searching for your things.

As expected, your cellphone was demolished, not that you would have had any reception down here. Your backpack was also worse for wear, but you managed to salvage some water and your Polaroid camera, your most prized possession. You held it gently in your hands, wondering how it managed to stay intact but not really caring. You looked up, but were unable to see the hole you fell into nor could you find any kind of footholds.

“So I guess climbing out of the mountain is out of the question,” you mumbled to yourself. You saw an entryway to this garden area and hobbled over. It looked manmade, like the walls had been chiseled out. You breathed a sigh of relief. “Where there’s a way in, there’s got to be a way out.”

You started moving forward, but your back was crying out in pain. You did your best to ignore it, figuring that you would get help once you got out. You hobbled along the pathway, using the wall as support, and looked down at your feet to make sure you didn’t trip over anything.

“Oh my!”

You glanced up to see a dark figure hurrying towards you. Your instinct was to panic and run, but your feet remained rooted to the ground. A charming goat was standing in front of you, furry hands checking your forehead. It was very motherly, and you felt your heart warm up to her right away. “I’m alright,” you assure her, “I just fell down here and I must have hit my back on the way down. It’s not broken, but it’s definitely bruised.”

“Oh, my child I will heal you right away,” mother goat told you. “Come, I’ll lead you somewhere safe. By chance, do you know of another human who had fallen here recently?”

You shake your head, but your heart fills with hope. If another human was down here, you had a better chance of getting out. 

*************************************************************************************************************************************************

Frisk was the cutest kid you had ever met. Not two seconds after Toriel introduced you had they run into your arms and wrapped you up in the biggest hug. They refused to let go of you all afternoon and kept repeating how happy they were you were alive and well. It was very sweet, and you idly wondered if they had an older sibling at home.

 _I wonder if my own siblings wonder where I am_ you find yourself thinking. You shake your head and push the thought away. No use in sad thoughts like those. 

A few days after healing from your back injury, Frisk insisted that Toriel show you the “cool heart magic trick.” You were amazed. Your soul was so bright and shimmery, almost like the glittering effects you see from freshly fallen snow. It was beautiful, and you knew it was precious from the moment you saw it. You asked Frisk to take a picture of it, so that you could see it always. 

Still, as homey and as comfortable as you were staying with Toriel, you had a strange feeling that you should be leaving soon. You could sense the same feeling coming from Frisk. You pulled them aside and promised you would keep them safe and you would get them home.

“I know you’ll do your best,” Frisk said. They handed you a backpack and you packed up a few pieces of pie, some water, and your camera. You glanced at the closet from the room you were staying in and opened it. Inside was a windbreaker that was roughly your size. You grabbed it. You also searched for a pair of pants to replace your shorts, but you couldn’t find any. You did see a nice pair of sneakers, so you took off your flip flops and changed. You weren’t sure why, but you felt much more confident about leaving now that you had new clothes.

Toriel was not happy that you wanted to leave, and you could hardly blame her. She told you that Asgore (whoever he was) would kill you. She told you that monsters that hunted humans would kill you. She fought you. You won. You hugged her goodbye. The whole ordeal left you with a strange sense of déjà vu and an empty feeling in your heart. You wish you could’ve stayed.

You and Frisk walked through the door into the Underground and you felt a gust of freezing air. You were thankful that you thought to bring a jacket, but you wished you could’ve found a pair of jeans in your closet.

“Hey, what’s this?” Frisk asked, holding up a box. Inside was a pair of dark sweatpants and old boots. There was a note attached that read: _I know I’m a **shoe-in** to **charm the pants off** ya, but you might wanna wait until you warm up a bit._

You looked around for the owner of the note, and wondered if it was supposed to be for you. You glanced over at Frisk, who looked really confused and contemplative. Not being one to look a gift horse in the mouth, you kick off the sneakers and shimmy the pants on over your shorts. You pull on the boots and smile; you didn’t know how long they had been sitting in the snow, but they warmed up your feet immediately. You took Frisk’s hand in your own and made your way down the path. 

You stopped at a clearing that was nothing short of breathtaking. The pine trees were tall, the snow was sparkling, and everything seemed so precariously placed it was almost surreal. You grabbed your camera from your backpack and snapped a photo. You turned to Frisk and said, “It’s a once in a lifetime shot, you know.” They smile weakly at you.

You continue walking down the path, not really sure where you were headed, when you thought you felt someone watching you. You turned around and called out, “Hey, whoever’s out there, show yourself!” No one came. You thought you were just being paranoid, but as you kept walking, there was a loud snap. A large branch had been broken. You rushed over to grab a piece of it. You considered making a threat, but ‘hey don’t mess with me, I have a stick’ sounded stupid. So you kept it by your side just in case.

“Hey, you two are humans right?”

You spun around quickly, the voice sounded like it had been right in your ears, but no one was there. You grabbed Frisk’s hand and began moving forward again. No more playing around.

“Of course you are. You stick out like a sore thumb.”

The voice was deep and it was relaxed, but it was so clear and close you swore the person was standing right next to you. But no one was there. You were sure you were crushing Frisk’s hand by now. You looked down to check on them. They didn’t look afraid, just confused. You walked for a few more minutes until you saw a bridge, and a figure leaning lazily against one of the bars. You gulped and clung onto Frisk’s arm. 

The figure made eye contact with you and began moving towards you. The snow crunched loudly under their feet. You felt like you should run, but something in the back of your mind said you would be fine. 

“Don’t you know how to greet a new pal?” It was the same voice that you heard earlier in the woods. A hand was extended out to you, but it was shrouded in the shadows. You hesitantly reach forward to shake the hand. Your hands make contact, and the feeling sends a shiver down your spine. _Was that bone? That’s so creepy…_

But you didn’t have time to think much of it as a loud PFFFFFFFFFFFFFT echoed throughout the woods. You let go of the hand and gave a little laugh. Suddenly all the tension that had been building up was dissipated. 

You introduced yourself and Frisk and the mysterious figure introduced him as Sans the skeleton. Yes, that’s right, a skeleton. You tried not to think about how creepy it was. Sans talked a bit about his brother Papyrus and how he was hunting for humans. He hid you and Frisk in a sentry station when his brother came through the area. Once Papyrus left, you figured you and Frisk should start moving just in case he decided to come back.

“Actually,” Sans called out, “could you do me a favor and…maybe let Papyrus see ya? He’s…been kinda down lately and seeing a coupla humans would really mean a lot to him.” 

You thought it was really sweet how much Sans cared about his brother. You figured he wouldn’t ask this favor unless he knew you’d be safe, and he had just graciously protected you not even five minutes ago, so you agreed. “Just promise you’ll keep an eye socket out for me, yeah?” you asked.

Sans looked a bit startled, though you didn’t really know why. He quickly recomposed himself and chuckled a bit, “Heh, yeah buddy don’t even worry about it.”

So you revealed yourself to Papyrus, who was overjoyed to see not one but TWO humans. You and Frisk went on to solve a series of puzzles (you were embarrassed to admit that they were able to solve most of them much fast than you). Soon, you were facing a long, old looking bridge. You held Frisk tightly. For some reason, this bridge was making you feel very nervous.

Frisk tugged the hem of your shirt and whispered, “Promise me you won’t run, okay? I think we will be fine without running away.”

You ruffled their hair and said, “Okay kiddo. I promise I won’t run.” You weren’t really sure why Frisk made you promise that, but you figured that whatever puzzle Papyrus cooked up couldn’t have been too bad. 

After a few minutes of walking, you could see Papyrus and Sans waiting for you. You gently waved at them, but Sans was looking rather nervous, and even from a distance you could see him sweating. You lowered your arm. Was this puzzle that bad?

“HUMAN AND TINY HUMAN. THE TIME HAS COME FOR YOUR FINAL PUZZLE. THE GAUNTLET OF DEADLY HORROR!”

You watched as weapons began to appear around you. Frisk held the hem of your shirt tightly and you remembered the promise you made. Did they really not want you to run away from this? Seriously? This was literally a death trap. 

“CANNONS WILL FIRE! SPIKES WILL SWING! BLADES WILL SLICE! ARE YOU READY? BECAUSE I AM ABOUT TO DO IT!”

Sans eyed his brother but carefully shifted his gaze over to you. Wink. “Well? What’s the holdup?”

Papyrus looked conflicted. He crossed his arms and said, “THERE’S NO HOLDUP. I…I’M GOING TO ACTIVATE IT NOW.”

You flinched, grabbing hold of Frisk’s shoulders. But nothing happened.

“that uh…doesn’t look very activated bro.” Sans met your eyes again. Wink. 

What the hell was all this winking for? You knew he was going to look out for you, but he was totally egging his brother on. Why? Why would he do that? You frown. 

“WELL…THIS CHALLENGE…IT SEEMS THAT MAYBE IT’S TOO EASY TO DEFEAT THE HUMANS WITH. YEAH THAT’S IT. WE CAN’T USE IT. I AM A SKELETON WITH STANDARDS. THIS METHOD IS TOO DIRECT WITH NO CLASS AT ALL. AWAY IT GOES.”

All of the weapons disappeared. A gust of wind blew through your hair and you were never more thankful to be alive. You smiled at Frisk and whispered to them, “You were right! We didn’t have to run away at all. You’re one smart kid, you know that?”

Frisk blushed and started walking across the bridge. Papyrus already left, but Sans was still there, hands in his pockets. You smiled in thanks and he kind of nodded, hesitated, and then called out for you. “Uh, hey, just um…make sure you know about blue attacks, alright? You know. Like if you…see a stop sign that’s red you stop. It’s just like that but…blue.”

You raised an eyebrow. “Alright, duly noted.”

With that, Sans shuffled away. You turned to Frisk and brightly exclaimed that you could see a small town up ahead. 

Welcome to Snowdin!

Snowdin was quite possibly the most charming village you had ever seen. Twinkle lights were set up in all the shops and along the street. Monster children were busy making snow dogs and other creatures. There was a light-hearted chattering from the townspeople as they did their shopping. You started snapping pictures, getting some really good shots of the snowy town. 

Snowdin reminded you of Christmas, and not just because of the giant Christmas tree in the town square. It was a cozy place with people bustling about. Hot cinnabunnies were sold by street vendors, the smell of Christmas spice and pine was in the air, and the houses looked straight out of a gingerbread kit. It was darling. And it filled you with a happy determination.

You bought Frisk and yourself each a cup of hot chocolate with what little money you had. It was money well spent, you thought to yourself as you took a large sip. The creamy cocoa slid down your throat and warmed you up from the inside out. The fluffy marshmallows were just sweet enough to not be overpowering. You could even detect a hint of peppermint. You hummed contently. Everything was better with a cup of hot cocoa. 

“We should probably get going…” Frisk said, “I think Papyrus is waiting for us.”

You looked at them quizzically and asked, “What makes you say that?”

Frisk just shrugged and threw their cup away. They started walking away from the bench you were sitting on, so you sighed and followed.

Like Frisk predicted, Papyrus was waiting for you at the edge of Snowdin. He looked distressed.

“Papyrus?”

He shook a little from being surprised, but faced you and Frisk directly. His eyes were casted downward. “HUMAN AND TINY HUMAN, I FEEL AS THOUGH WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT SOME VERY COMPLEX FEELINGS. FEELINGS LIKE WHAT YOU GET FROM MEETING A FELLOW PASTA LOVER. OR FROM MEETING SOMEONE VERY SMART AND COOL. I KNOW IT MUST BE WHAT YOU’RE FEELING FOR ME RIGHT NOW. AND I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM FLATTERED AND ACKNOWLEDGE THOSE FEELINGS. I DON’T EVER WONDER WHAT IT MUST BE LIKE TO HAVE A LOT OF FRIENDS BECAUSE I AM SO GREAT. BUT YOU, HUMAN AND TINY HUMAN, YOU ONLY HAVE EACH OTHER. IT MUST BE VERY LONELY. SO FEAR NOT, YOU SHALL NOT BE LONELY ANYMORE. FOR I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL BE YOUR…”

He paused. You took a few steps forward and said, “Papyrus, if you want to be friends-”

“NO, NO, THIS IS ALL WRONG. I CAN’T BE YOUR FRIEND. YOU ARE HUMANS SO I MUST CAPTURE YOU. THEN I WILL BE A PART OF THE ROYAL GUARD. I WILL HAVE POWER AND POPULARITY AND PRESTIGE.”

You took a few more steps towards the skeleton. You smile sweetly and gently ask, “But would it be worth it?”

Papyrus crinkled his eyes and looked at you with a mix of fondness and sadness in his eyes. He shook his head and continued, “OF COURSE IT WOULD BE. THE ROYAL GUARD…IT’S ALL I HAVE EVER WANTED.”

You felt a familiar tugging at your chest. Your vison blurred and your skin felt numb. You felt swept away until it was just you and Papyrus. He looked at you expectantly, ah, you had the first move.

**_[MERCY]_ **

“Papyrus, don’t you think this is all a bit silly? I really loved hanging out with you today and solving your puzzles. Don’t you think you could…I don’t know…let me go?”

“DID YOU SAY ‘LOVE?’ HUMAN, ARE YOU FLIRTING WITH ME?”

“Wait, what, no I just-”

“SO YOU FINALLY REVEAL YOUR ULTIMATE FEELINGS? THIS IS SO TRAGIC.”

“Papyrus, I don’t think you understand-”

“I MEAN, I AM A SKELETON WITH VERY HIGH STANDARDS.”

Okay, that one felt like a slap to the face. You narrowed your eyes at Papyrus. 

“TELL ME HUMAN, CAN YOU MAKE SPAGHETTI?”

“…yes?”

“OH NO! YOU ARE MEETING ALL OF MY STANDARDS!”

You were not expecting these developments. 

“Papyrus, I think we should probably-”

“GO ON A DATE? OF COURSE, HUMAN. I ACCEPT. AFTER THIS FIGHT OF COURSE.”

Ah, right, the fight…you almost forgot. Papyrus sent a few bones your way that were fairly easy to dodge. Okay, you could do this. Maybe this fight was all for show?

**_[MERCY]_ **

“OH…SO YOU WON’T FIGHT? WELL THEN LET’S SEE IF YOU CAN HANDLE MY FABLED BLUE ATTACK.”

With a wave of his hand, Papyrus sent a few dozen blue bones your way. Out of instinct, you cover your face, but otherwise don’t move. You peek out of your fingers to see that the bones were gone and that you were still alive. You also noticed Papyrus clumsily applying…cologne?

**_[MERCY]_ **

“I don’t want to fight you Papyrus. Please let me go.”

With another wave of his hand, Papyrus’s magic surrounded your soul. Suddenly, the light airiness became ice cold and very dense and heavy. You felt the weight of your soul triple and collapse to the ground. Your body reacted similarly, a dim blue glow bloomed on your skin and you felt as though you were made of lead. And you were so, so, so cold.

“YOU’RE BLUE NOW. THAT IS MY SPECIAL ATTACK.”

_Gee, thanks for the head’s up Sans._

**_[MERCY]_ **

“Come on, Papyrus. You don’t want to do this.”

Papyrus didn’t even look like he was paying attention. His head seemed up in the clouds and he was talking to himself, “HMM…I WONDER WHAT I SHOULD WEAR.”

_Is he…is he really thinking about a date at a time like this_

Still, even without his full attention, he was still able to toss a few bone attacks your way, which were much more difficult to dodge when you couldn’t move as quickly as you were used to. 

**_[MERCY]_ **

“HUMAN. D-DON’T MAKE ME USE MY SPECIAL ATTACK.”

“WHAT! I thought this was your special attack!” You exclaimed, dodging bones and heavily sweating. There couldn’t be more, you were barely holding it together as it was. A few bones hit you in the sides and you knew they were going to leave a bruise. 

You huffed, wondering why you didn’t use your gym membership more often.

**_[MERCY]_ **

“I CAN ALMOST TASTE THE POPULARITY. HUMAN, JUST GIVE UP AND LET ME CAPTURE YOU.”

You almost wanted to, you could feel your HP dropping faster and faster as the fight continued. You couldn’t keep dodging forever. But you thought of Frisk and you were filled with determination.

“I’m not meant for battle, Pap, but for Frisk I cannot give up just yet.”

“THAT IS QUITE NOBLE OF YOU HUMAN. I AM MOVED BY YOUR SINCERITY. BUT ALAS, I AM PAPYRUS THE UNPARALLELED SPAGETTORE AND I, TOO, HAVE SOMEONE TO LOOK OUT FOR.”

You assumed he meant Sans, and the thought made your heart melt. It was very sweet how they looked out for each other. Unfortunately, it wasn’t working out in your favor. Still, you dodged attacks. Still, you did not give up.

**_[MERCY]_ **

“UNDYNE WOULD BE SO PROUD OF ME IF I CAUGHT YOU. KING ASGORE WOULD SMILE AT ME AND BUILD HEDGES IN THE SHAPE OF MY SMILE. SANS…WELL HE WOULDN’T CHANGE MUCH BUT I LIKE TO THINK HE WOULD BE PROUD OF ME TOO.”

You crumble, “He would, Pap, believe me he would be really proud of you.”

Papyrus hesitated before sending the next wave of bones. “R-REALLY, YOU THINK SO?”

You nod. “Yes, I do.”

He glanced at the ground, suddenly finding his boots to be very interesting. He fiddled with his scarf and then looked back at you. He said, “WELL, YOU KNOW THAT MEANS I WILL DEFINITELY HAVE TO CAPTURE YOU THEN.”

You nod, bracing yourself for the attack, but it doesn’t come.

“YOU KNOW HUMAN, IF I CAPTURE YOU, THEN MY POPULARITY WILL BE UNRIVALED. BUT…WOULD ANYBODY LIKE ME AS SINCERELY AS YOU?” 

Papyrus looked a bit sad. His arms were down, not up in defense. You reach your arm out to him and you pat his hand softly. “Anyone who doesn’t like you wouldn’t be worth the time of day. You are very sweet Papyrus, and I am sure that the monsters will all love you very much.”

**_[MERCY]_ **

“EVEN NOW, I’M ATTACKING YOU AND YET YOU STILL ONLY SAY KIND THINGS. A PERSON LIKE YOU IS RARE.”

You dodge, but the end of a bone nicks you in the side. You clutch your waist and take a deep breath. “It’s alright, I understand why you feel the need to attack me,” you say.

**_[MERCY]_ **

“AND I MEAN…DATING YOU WOULD BE KIND OF HARD IF YOU WERE CAPTURED AND SENT AWAY TO THE CAPITOL.”

You really couldn’t believe he was still stuck on that date thing. You force out a laugh and tell him it still wouldn’t be the worst date you’ve ever been on.

“SEE HUMAN! YOUR LIFE IS IN DANGER BECAUSE OF ME AND YOU ARE MAKING JOKES. WHY DO YOU DO THAT?”

“Because if I have the choice between showing you mercy and fighting you, I would much rather you live.” You feel your lids getting heavy. You only had a little HP left. You really hoped the fight would be over soon and he would let you go.

**_[MERCY]_ **

You could hear Papyrus’s bones rattling. You idly wondered if he was shaking from the cold or from all the emotions he was probably feeling. Maybe both. Probably the latter. Your vision was darkening. You hoped he would finish you off quickly or spare you because you couldn’t last much longer. 

“JUST GIVE UP. I…I…I DON’T WANT TO HAVE TO USE MY SPECIAL ATTACK ON YOU ANYMORE.”

You shake your head. “I made a promise, Pap. And a promise can never be broken.”

**_[MERCY]_ **

“PLEASE HUMAN. GIVE UP.”

“No.”

**_[MERCY]_ **

“I REALLY WILL USE IT.”

“Go ahead then and put me out of my misery.”

**_[MERCY]_ **

“THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE!”

You sigh softly. It was nice knowing you, Frisk.

**_[MERCY]_ **

“NYEH. OKAY YOU HAVE FORCED MY HAND. I AM GOING TO USE MY SPECIAL ATTACK NOW.” 

You close your eyes and wait, but nothing happens. You open one eye very slowly and you see a small dog chewing on a bone. 

“TH-THAT IS MY SPECIAL ATTACK! WHAT THE HECK!” Papyrus glances at you and coughs. “WELL…IT IS CLEAR THAT YOU CANNOT DEFEAT ME. I CAN SEE YOU SHAKING IN YOUR BOOTS!” He squints a bit, “YOUR VERY FAMILIAR LOOKING BOOTS. NO MATTER. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, ELECT TO GRANT YOU PITY. I WILL SPARE YOU. I HOPE YOU DO THE SAME.”

Thank. God.

**_[MERCY]_ **

You watched as your soul snuggly fit back inside your chest and the world around you started becoming sharper. Papyrus lifted the blue from your soul and you began to feel lighter and warmer. Your stomach flipped as you returned to reality. You stumbled a bit and fell into the snow. Frisk ran up to you and hugged you tightly. 

“You were fighting him for a really long time,” they said. 

“Really? It only felt like a few minutes,” you weakly responded. “Papyrus really got me good though, I really thought it was the end for me.”

Speaking of Papyrus, you looked over at him. He looked upset. He turned to you, his eyes watering up. “I CANNOT EVEN STOP SOMEONE AS WEAK AS YOU. UNDYNE IS GOING TO BE SO DISAPPOINTED IN ME. I’M NEVER GOING TO GET TO JOIN THE ROYAL GUARD NOW.” You felt a pang of guilt. But what were you supposed to do? Let him capture you? You shook your head. He continued, “AND...MY FRIEND QUANTITY WILL REMAIN STAGNANT!” 

“I want to be your friend!” Frisk exclaimed, leaving you to console Papyrus. “I think we’d be best friends!”

“WOWIE. REALLY?” Frisk nodded and gave you a pointed look.

You smiled and sat up. “And I want to be your friend too, Pap. I really do.”

“TWO NEW FRIENDS IN ONE DAY?! WOWIE I GUESS I REALLY AM POPULAR! AND YOU, HUMAN, YOU CALLED ME PAP. IS THIS THE TERM OF AFFECTION ONE MIGHT CALL…A NICKNAME?”

You nod. 

“I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, ACCEPT YOU CALLING ME ‘PAP.’ IT IS ENDEARING, YET EVERYONE WILL KNOW THAT YOU ARE REFERING TO ME, YOUR COOLEST FRIEND.”

You nod again, but you feel a bit dizzy. You were still recovering from the fight. 

“AND TO THINK, WE HAVEN’T EVEN BEEN ON OUR FIRST DATE YET AND WE’VE ALREADY REACHED THE FRIENDZONE.”

“Mhmmm,” you nod, closing your eyes. “You, Frisk, and I…we’re gonna be great pals Pap, I promise you.”

“HUMAN IS SOMETHING WRONG? DO YOU NEED TO EAT SOMETHING? YOU ARE LOOKING QUITE TIRED AND I WOULDN’T BE A GOOD FRIEND IF I DID NOT TRY AND TAKE CARE OF YOU.”

You try to wave him off, but you were so tired. You collapse back into the snow.

*************************************************************************************************************************************************

“Sheesh, kid. You really need to be taking better care of yourself,” a familiar voice said, waking you up.

“Sans?”

“the very skeleton.”

You rub your eyes and the room comes into focus. You’re laying down on a couch in what looks like a living room. The TV is on and blaring some kind of gameshow. You have a mountain of blankets covering you and a rag on your forehead. You removed the rag and sat up, looking at Sans curiously. “What happened to me?” you asked.

“You passed out after your fight with my bro.”

“Oh.”

“i was worried.”

Your heart fluttered a bit. He was worried about you? You hadn’t known him for very long, but the sentiment was still nice and-

“i thought you were trying to kill him with how long it was taking.”

Oh. 

You sunk back down into the couch. You didn’t even bother looking at Sans when you said, “I would never kill anybody ever. I’m not a murderer.”

“even if you had to? even if it was for Frisk?” he pressed. 

“I’d give up my life instead. From what I’ve gathered, monsters need a human soul for…something. I’m not sure what it is yet, but you need one for something. That’s why you and Pap were guarding the entrance to the ruins isn’t it? To get a human for something. Well, if that’s the case then they can have me. I’d die in Frisk’s place easily.” This answer surprised you a bit, but you knew it was true. You hadn’t known Frisk for long, but you felt a need to protect them. 

“why? don’t you have something to live for up on the surface?”

Your face burned a bit. You were kind of embarrassed by your answer. “Not really. My photography I guess. A few friends. A few family members. But I mean, it wasn’t like I had something keeping me tied there. But Frisk…Frisk is just a kid. They have their whole life to live still; it’d be unfair to trap them down here.”

Sans hummed and you assumed he liked your answer enough to leave it be for now. He sat in the chair beside you and you both watched the television for a few minutes.

“By the way,” you started, “where is Frisk?”

“off with Papyrus, they’re buying groceries for spaghetti tonight. trust me when i say you should pretend to be asleep when dinner time rolls around.”

You sat up, it made you a bit woozy, but you stared at Sans and said, “We can’t stay.”

“what do ya mean you can’t stay? you can barely move and the kiddo is making papyrus happy so you’re stayin.”

You shifted the blankets off of you and shook your head. You stood, shook a bit, and crossed your arms. You towered over the skeleton who was sitting in the recliner. You told him, “Look, we can’t stay. I don’t want to intrude. We can’t be freeloaders. Frisk and I we’ll…we’ll just stay at the inn I saw on the way into town.”

“you got 80G?”

“…no.”

“then sit your ass down and shut up because you’re not going anywhere,” Sans said. It was a bit harsher than you expected him to ever sound. You sat down. Sans got up and walked to another room, and when he returned, he handed you a small bag of chips. “look, you’re not feelin so good, I get it. trust me when i say eating monster food will make you feel better. the magic in it refills hp and heals you a little faster.”

He shuffled back to his recliner and turned his attention back to the tv set. You opened the bag of chips and began eating. The crunching of the potato chips mixed with the sound of background noise from the television made you feel less awkward about staying in the house. This moment made you feel very much at home. You polished off the bag and then went back to sleep, but not without whispering a quiet thanks to your new skeleton pal.

*************************************************************************************************************************************************

“SO, HUMAN, IS IT TIME FOR OUR DATE?”

You tried to explain your intentions to Papyrus, but he just believed you felt so flustered and so full of emotion that the thought of dating him made you wary. He told you to fear not, as the great Papyrus does have that effect on people, and that you should feel honored that he accepted the proposal.

And here you are, about to go on a date with a skeleton. 

“Yeah, Pap, I guess it is.” You shuffled your feet a bit. “Actually, before we start, can I ask a favor of you?”

“OF COURSE. ANYTHING FOR MY COOL NEW FRIEND.”

You held up your camera. “Would you mind taking a photo with me? I get the feeling that this is a moment I wouldn’t want to forget.”

“OF COURSE! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM MANY THINGS – AND PHOTOGENIC IS ONE OF THEM!”

You hold out the camera in front of you and Papyrus comes in closer. You hold up the victory sign and smile. _Click._ The photo develops. It’s actually a very good one of the two of you. You ask Papyrus for a pen and you caption it: First Date with a Skeleton  <3 Yeah, that was definitely a keeper.

“ARE YOU READY NOW HUMAN?”

You set the camera down on the coffee table and give Papyrus a thumbs up. 

“GREAT! DATING START!”

You felt a tugging at your chest. You furrowed your eyebrows and looked at Papyrus. “Wait what are you doing, no! Stop!” Your soul escaped and you tried to push it back in. “I thought we were going on a date!” you wailed.

“WE ARE! DON’T FRET HUMAN. EVEN THOUGH I HAVE NEVER BEEN ON A DATE BEFORE, I KNOW WHAT I AM DOING. I CHECKED OUT A BOOK FROM THE LIBRARY!”

Your soul shook and the world around you darkened. Suddenly Papyrus came into view, smiling brightly. He had changed outfits and was now wearing a ‘cool dude’ shirt and a backwards baseball cap. It was almost cute in a weird way. You offered a kind smile back and the two of you start your…date? You seriously hesitated calling it that, especially when he brought out the book from the library. You tried to muffle your laughter, but it was too funny. He was trying so hard to impress you, and it made you feel warm and fuzzy inside…even if you didn’t exactly want to go on this date in the first place.

“ALRIGHT. SO WHAT DO YOU THINK OF MY SECRET STYLE?” Papyrus asked, gesturing to his new outfit. 

You grinned and said, “It’s really cute Pap. I love it!”

He looked a bit flustered. “WH-WHAT! A GENUINE COMPLIMENT? BUT…BUT YOU WILL NOT BEST ME. YOU DO NOT KNOW MY SECRET.”

You giggled and grabbed a hold of his hand, about to tell him that it was alright, that you didn’t need to know, but you noticed that holding Papyrus’s hand was a bit different than holding Sans’s. For one thing, Papyrus wore gloves, so even though you could feel the bone underneath, it actually wasn’t that much different than holding a human hand. It didn’t give you the same crawling sensation on your back. 

You hadn’t realized you were gripping so tightly until Papyrus interrupted your train of thought. “HOLDING MY HAND SO I’LL TELL YOU THE ANSWER? HMMM…NO, I MUST RESIST.” He pulled his hand away and narrowed his eyes at you. He was still rather flustered, and you could see a faint orange glow appear on his cheekbones. 

You wait patiently, and finally Papryus speaks up again, “NYEH-HEH-HEH. WELL I DON’T WANT TO PROLONG THE INEVITABLE SO I WILL SHOW YOU MY SECRET!” He removed the cap and you saw a small box resting on the top of his head. He smiled proudly and said, “IT’S A PRESENT. FOR YOU!” He handed you the box.

“Papyrus, I couldn’t…”

“NONSENSE! OPEN IT!”

You tear off the ribbon and lift the lid. You could hardly contain your laughter when you saw what was inside. It was…just…it was so Papyrus.

“I KNOW YOU ARE PROBABLY THINKING THAT I HAVE GRANTED YOU SOME MORE OF MY AMAZING SPAGHETTI. BUT YOU ARE SO WRONG. THIS AIN’T ANY PLAIN OLD PASTA. IT’S ARTISANS WORK. SILKEN SPAGHETTI. ONLY THE FINEST FOR MY DATE.” 

He looks at you expectantly, so you grab the fork next to the plate and twirl the noodles around. You take a bite. It tasted like cardboard and had the consistency of sandpaper. Oh…oh Papyrus. You swallow, and give him a thumb’s up, choosing to spare his feelings.

“YOU ATE MY SPAGHETTI! YOU MUST REALLY LOVE MY COOKING, AND BY EXTENSION…ME!”

You did not love his cooking, but you loved Papyrus, so you nodded. 

“OH MY GOD MAYBE YOU EVEN LOVE ME MORE THAN I LOVE ME. NO!”

Suddenly everything started sharpening. You watched your soul come back towards you. Papyrus looked as though something was bothering him. You reach out and call to him, “Did I do something wrong?”

“HUMAN…IT IS CLEAR TO ME NOW. YOU ARE MADLY IN LOVE WITH ME.”

…

_What._

“EVERYTHING YOU DO. EVERYTHING YOU SAY. IT’S ALL BEEN FOR MY SAKE, HASN’T IT? EVEN BACK WHEN I WAS TRYING TO CAPTURE YOU, YOU ONLY SAID NICE THINGS TO ME INSTEAD OF DEFENDING YOURSELF. HUMAN, I WANT YOU TO BE HAPPY TOO…”

He hesitated before continuing, “IT IS TIME THAT I EXPRESSED MY FEELINGS TOO…BUT, UM…WELL. AS YOUR FRIEND, I THINK I SHOULD BE HONEST. HUMAN, I DON’T LIKE YOU THE WAY YOU LIKE ME.”

…

_WHAT._

“I TRIED VERY HARD TO LIKE YOU ROMANTICALLY, YOU SEE. I WAS HOPING THAT THIS BOOK WOULD HELP. YOU ASKED ME OUT ON THIS DATE AND I REALLY WANTED TO LIKE YOU, BUT, AS YOU CAN SEE, I DON’T. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE FAILED.”

“No, Pap, you didn’t…I mean I’m fine, really.” You try to reassure him, but he put up his hand to silence you.

“IT WAS DISHONORABLE TO HAVE YOU DATE ME, FOR NOW I HAVE LED YOU ON AND MADE YOUR FEELINGS FOR ME MORE PASSIONATE. BUT, FEAR NOT HUMAN, I WILL HELP YOU DURING THESE TRYING TIMES. I WILL STILL BE YOUR FRIEND BECAUSE I DO NOT WANT TO LOSE OUT ON OUR COOL FRIENDSHIP.”

You felt your shoulders sag. You knew you shouldn’t feel disappointed that this didn’t go anywhere (you really hadn’t planned on it going anywhere) but the feeling of rejection stung a bit. Still, Papyrus’s honesty and friendship filled you with determination.

“OH NO, ARE YOU UPSET? HUMAN, DO NOT CRY BECAUSE I CANNOT KISS YOU, FOR I HAVE NO LIPS.” Papyrus put a hand on your shoulder and said, “AND DO NOT WORRY. ONE DAY YOU WILL FIND SOMEONE AS GREAT AS ME.”

“You think so, Pap?”

“…WELL, NO. NO ONE CAN BE AS GREAT AS ME, BUT I WILL HELP YOU SETTLE FOR SECOND BEST.” Papyrus looked contemplative for a moment, and then his eyes lit up. “WAIT RIGHT HERE!”

You waited on Papyrus’s racecar bed. You could just barely make out voices coming from the hallway.

“SANS, CAN YOU COME HERE A MINUTE?”

“what is it bro? wh-what are you doing?”

You heard loud, stomping footsteps and Papyrus rushed back in, carrying Sans in his arms. He plopped his brother down on the bed next to you and nodded excitedly. He grabbed your hand and placed it over Sans’s. 

“THERE YOU ARE HUMAN. SECOND BEST. NOW I…UM…I HAVE TO GO WASH MY HAIR. NYEH-HEH-HEH!”

Papyrus ran out the door, slamming it behind him. 

“so, uh, wanna tell me what’s going on?”

“Not really. It’s been a long day.” You noticed your hand was still on top of his. You quickly removed it and blushed.

“what, do my bones offend you or somethin?”

“N-no it’s not…it’s not that. It’s um,” ah, crap, you hadn’t meant to offend him. 

“’s whatever. Forgettabout it.”

“No, I…” you reached down again and grabbed a hold of his hand, suppressing a shiver. “It’s just weird. Usually touching someone’s bones means their dead. It’s kind of creepy. Not that you’re creepy. It’s um, well…”

Sans chuckled and pried his hand away from yours. “i’m just joking with ya, kid.”

“Oh.”

This felt really awkward, but before you could excuse yourself, Papyrus came running back in. “OH MY GOD, I ALMOST FORGOT THE MOST IMPORTANT PART!” he grabbed your camera from the table and pointed at you and Sans. “SMILE!” _Click._

The flash left you a bit dazed. Papyrus shook the photo like how you demonstrated before. When the picture came to focus he began scribbling down a caption. “SEE SANS,” he said, “NOW YOU CAN HAVE A COOL DATE PICTURE TOO!”

You inspected the photo. It was blurry, but not half bad. You both were actually smiling, and it actually looked quite sweet. Papyrus’s caption just made the photo all the better: SECOND DATE WITH A SKELETON BECAUSE THE FIRST ENDED WITH PLATONIC FRIENDSHIP. DO NOT CRY HUMAN, FOR MY BROTHER IS THE GREATEST PERSON I KNOW NEXT TO MYSELF. IF YOU WERE TO FIND THE GREATEST LOVE POSSIBLE, IT WOULD BE HIM. PLEASE BE HAPPY. AND THEN WE CAN ALL ENJOY SOME SPAGHETTI TOGETHER. FONDLY YOURS, PAPYRUS (THAT FONDLY IS STRICTLY PLATONIC!!!!!!!) <3 (THAT IS ALSO A PLATONIC LOVE SYMBOL!!!!!!!)

“Thanks Pap. It’s a great photo.”

“OF COURSE. I WILL HAVE TO ADD MASTER PHOTOGRAPHER TO MY GROWING LIST OF SKILLS.” 

“What are you all up to?” Everyone’s attention focused to the door, where Frisk was standing, rubbing their eyes. 

“Oh, sorry Frisk. Did we wake you from your nap?” you asked. You opened your arms for them to come hug you. They waddled over and climbed into your lap. “We were just finishing up…a date?”

You handed Frisk the photos. Frisk inspected them carefully and turned to you solemnly. “These pictures are missing something.”

“What? Really? What are they missing?” you asked, looking over the two snapshots. 

“Me!” 

You laughed and grabbed your Polaroid. “Okay, everyone squeeze in, group shot!” _Click._ You let Frisk caption it this time. They wrote: My friends.

You stroked their hair delicately and said, “I love it.”

There was a loud knocking at the door. Papyrus went down to go answer it, and you felt Sans’s eyes on you. You turned and he said, “so, we were on a date just then? didn’t realize you were so _bonely_.”

“Sans.”

“i mean, if you told me you were into skeletons, i would have _thrown you a bone_.” His eyes twinkled. 

“Sans, stop it,” you protested, but you giggled at his joke anyways.

“i mean it would’ve been great. could’ve taken you on a trip to the _bone zone_ ,” he teased. 

“Sans!” You exclaimed, covering Frisk’s ears. 

“you’re smiling.”

You stuck your tongue out and averted your gaze. You could feel your cheeks warming up. You knew he was just teasing you, but you felt bothered anyways. You glanced back at Sans, whose eyes never left you. “Geez, quit the staring. I mean, take a picture, it’ll last longer.”

Sans’s grin got wider as he snatched your camera and _Click._ He watched as the photo came out and laughed to himself, like there was some kind of joke you weren’t completely understanding. You scoffed when he said the picture was a keeper, it was even blurrier than the one Papyrus took it. He captioned it: the face of boneliness.

The three of you sat in a content silence for a bit, but you were wondering what was taking Papyrus so long. Frisk said they would go check, but had just opened the door when you could hear his voice again.

“UNDYNE, THIS REALLY ISN’T…IT ISN’T A GOOD TIME.”

“Papyrus are you hiding something!?” This was a woman’s voice, deep and cutting and loud. You were a bit worried; it scared you.

“N-NO. I JUST…YOU SHOULD COME BACK LATER. AT A TIME. THAT. ISN’T NOW.”

“Papyrus we have a training session and I’m not going to let you wuss out on me now!”

“WELL I JUST THINK IT SHOULD BE POSTPONED. IS ALL.”

“Papyrus, I have heard that there are humans in the Underground! Do you really think that we can sit around and do nothing! We have to be ready for them!”

Oh no. This…Undyne. She was here to kill you wasn’t she? You glanced at Frisk, who was still listening by the door. “Frisk, come back here!” you hissed. You considered your options. There wasn’t an escape from Papyrus’s room. The only way out was through the front door. You were going to have to hide. 

The closet.

The bed.

The desk. 

Okay, closet seemed like your best bet. You got up and snatched Frisk from the door, but in doing so, you moved the door and it let out a loud creak. You froze dead in your tracks.

“What was that?!”

“UM. IT WAS PROBABLY SANS. AND NOT A HUMAN.”

But it was too late, Undyne was already running up the stairs. You snatch up Frisk and rush into the closet to hide. You just make it as Undyne entered the room. From the slats in the door, you could just barely make her out. Tall, blue, and totally ripped. Yes, she would definitely tear you to shreds in a matter of seconds. You definitely did not stand a chance. 

“Sans, was that you making that noise?”

“ya.”

Undyne glared at him suspiciously. “Really, you’re normally so quiet.”

Sans shrugged. “too lazy to be quiet.”

Undyne didn’t break her glare. “I don’t believe you. Papyrus was acting suspicious. I think you are hiding a human.”

“nope.”

“Talk!” Undyne threatened.

“there isn’t a human.” Sans insisted. Your heart was beating so hard and your hands were getting clammy. You still had Frisk in your grasp. 

Undyne finally looked away from him and in your direction. Her eyes narrowed, and it felt as though she was staring right at you. You held Frisk even tighter and blinked rapidly to keep yourself from crying. 

“Then I guess you won’t mind if I check-”

“Undyne wait!”

But it was too late, Undyne had ripped the closet door off from its hinges. She looked down at you and Frisk and you could practically see her blood boil. You darted out of the closet and ran down the stairs, taking two steps at a time. You were fast, but Undyne was faster. By the time you made it to the front door, she wasn’t too much further behind you. 

“YOU WILL PERISH.” She materialized a spear and aimed it right at Frisk’s head. You dropped Frisk and stepped in front of them, holding your arms out protectively. 

“Run,” you told Frisk. “Run and do not stop.” They took off.

“Heh,” Undyne repositioned her spear. “That’s fine, I guess you’ll die first.”

And before you could do anything, a spear entered your stomach. Well, you thought to yourself at least this death is going to be quick. 

Blood trickled down your leg and into the snow. You fell and watched your soul leave. Undyne grabbed it and gave it a rough squeeze.

Now you were dead.

**_[RESET]_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aw, poor reader. Undyne really showed no mercy.


	3. First Death in Waterfall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans is determined to keep you from dying in Snowdin, but what awaits in Waterfall?

You woke up with your arms stretched out and a soreness in your stomach. You sat up and clutched your abdomen. It felt as though someone had blasted a hole right through your midsection. You winced and stood up uneasily.

“Huh, I guess these golden flowers broke my fall,” you mused. You picked up your Polaroid camera that was nestled in the bed of flowers and started walking. You didn’t bother to look for any of your other belongings.

You walked through a large set of doors and came face to face with a friendly looking goat. You felt as though you had seen her before. “Hey there,” you greeted, as though she was an old friend. 

“Oh my!” 

You learned that her name is Toriel. She opened her arms and her door to you. She filled you with kindness and pie. You met Frisk and you promised them that you’ll take them to the surface, even if it killed you. They didn’t look happy about that.

When you left the ruins with your backpack, Toriel tried to stop you. You saw your soul for the first time, but you felt as though you had seen it before in a hazy dream you once had. You fought. You won. You and Frisk left the ruins with Frisk piggybacking you.

You found a box of warmer clothes waiting by the door for you. You laughed at the dumb joke that was attached. You took a picture of a snowy clearing and tell Frisk it was a once in a lifetime kind of shot. You met Sans and Papyrus. You finished their puzzles. You pet some dogs.

You fought with Papyrus. You almost lost. You befriended him and everything felt right in the world. Like Toriel, he opened his arms and his home. You couldn’t say no.

Papyrus invited you to go on a playdate with him, but Frisk insisted that they go instead. You took a picture of them in their matching Cool Dudes shirts. _Click._ Caption: Frisk’s first playdate. While the two of them went off doing whatever, you relaxed in Sans’s and Papyrus’s living room while enjoying a cup of hot chocolate. 

“heh. that’s a nice photo of them,” Sans murmured from over your shoulder.

“Fuck, Sans! I didn’t even hear you come in,” you yelped, placing a hand over your heart. You nearly spilled your drink because you were so startled. You set the mug on the coffee table and crossed your arms.

“fuck sans? i mean, i hardly know ya buddy, but i mean if that’s what ya want…” Sans waggled his brow bone, “i do have an all-exclusive pass to the _bone zone._ ”

You playfully smacked the skeleton in the arm. “Don’t tease me like that, it isn’t nice,” you chided. Even though you knew he was making fun of you, you felt your cheeks warm up in embarrassment. 

“who’s teasing, i’m _dead serious_ ,” Sans chuckled. 

“Pap would be so disappointed in your behavior. Nap all day, bother the human, AND you didn’t even go to work today,” you shook your head and tsk’d. “Three strikes and you’re out, buddy.” You smiled smugly at him.

Sans shrugged, “i’ll have you know that i did get a ton of work done today,” he paused.

“Sans, no.”

You swore the pinpricks of light in his eyes got brighter. “a. _skele-ton_!”

You groaned inwardly. _What a nerd_. He was still leaning on the back of the couch, so you patted the seat beside you and invited him to sit down. Sans sunk into his place on the couch, grabbed the remote, and flicked through the channels. You picked up your mug and started sipping on your cocoa. 

“so i hate to pry,” Sans started.

“That’s what people always say before they ask a really personal question,” you said, curling your legs in. 

“you mind?”

You shrugged and said, “Not really. Ask away I guess.”

“what are you doing here?”

“Like…in your house? Because if Frisk and I have to, we can stay somewhere el-”

“no!” Sans interrupted suddenly. He covered his mouth, as if he had said something he shouldn’t have. “i mean, what’s a kid like you doin in the underground?”

 _What was I even doing on Mt Ebott?_ You thought to yourself. You racked your brain for an answer. _Oh! Yes that’s right._ “I was taking a few photos for one of the college classes I’m in. I thought it would be edgy if I could get some pictures from the top of the mountain, since no one ever goes up there but…I lost my footing and I fell.” 

Sans winced. You wondered why, it wasn’t like the fall killed you or anything. 

But more importantly, how could you have almost forgotten what you were doing on top of the mountain? You were just there only a few days ago. Or was it a few weeks ago? Time seemed to move differently in the underground. 

“A-anyways. So, I fall and I land in this huge garden of golden flowers. My stomach feels like it’s about to burst from pain, but I’m not really sure why. I guess I hit it on the way down or something, I don’t know. But I got up, grabbed my camera and started walking around the ruins. I met someone really nice while I was there, and I actually felt really bad about leaving her. She…was like a mother to Frisk and I…” you trailed off. You hadn’t thought much about Toriel since you left. You wondered if she would answer if you called from Frisk’s phone.

“what about your mom on the surface?” Sans asked.

“Oh,” you paused, trying to recollect any memories you had of your family. “I…she was great I guess. But you know, since I’m in college I don’t live with my family anymore…they probably don’t even know I’m gone…” 

“friends?” 

You nodded your head. “Yeah, I had some really great friends up there. Ha, you know if they could see me now, being friends with a monster…they would seriously flip their shit.” You smiled. You tried to remember your friends’ faces, but the images that came to mind were all fuzzy. 

_Maybe I hit my head on the way down here too?_

“you happy here?” 

You were wondering why Sans was asking all these serious questions. It seemed so out of character for him. You nod and tell him, “Yes. Very. You and Pap…you’re truly a blessing. We’d probably be dead without you.” A shiver rushed down your spine. 

“you cold?” Sans asked, already shrugging off his jacket without waiting for an answer. He tossed it to you and you put it on without arguing. It was warm and cozy and a size too big for you. It smelled like freshly fallen snow and greasy French fries. 

A thought occurred to you. 

“Hey Sans, you don’t happen to be the one who got me my pants and boots are you?”

You watched as a light azure blush spread across Sans’s face. Ah-ha! You grinned and started poking him in the ribs. You teasingly said, “What, did I say something to get _under your skin?_ Have I succeeded in _rattling your bones?_ ”

But then, another thought occurred to you, and you suddenly stopped messing with Sans.

“But, I found these already waiting for me. Before we even met…” you stared at Sans, who was starting to sweat. “Sans, how did you know I was coming?”

“uh, well-”

There was suddenly a loud knock at the door. Sans stiffened. 

“Hey Papyrus! Don’t be such a twerp! We have a cooking lesson today! You better not leave me stranded out here!” a loud voice boomed from behind the door.

“we have to go,” Sans said as he grabbed your wrist.

“W-what? Why?” you asked, pulling back your hand. “Who is that? If she’s a friend of Pap’s, I’m sure she’s fine? Besides we need to tell her he isn’t home.” You felt really confused. Sans was acting totally weird and you didn’t know what to do. He looked really worried. The knocking got louder.

“If you don’t open this door Papyrus, I swear I’m going to kick it down just because I can!”

Sans put his hands on your shoulders and shook you a bit. The pinpricks in his eyes were so small you could hardly make them out. His voice was low and hoarse. He was starting to scare you. “look, you really need to trust me right now. please say you trust me. we don’t have time for any back and forth. that woman out there is the head of the royal guard and she will kill you unless we leave.”

You didn’t have time to think. The words, “I trust you,” barely escaped your lips before Sans interlaced your fingers with his and a gust of blue magic began to surround you.

“brace yourself,” he warned as he pulled you in close to him.

You saw the door get kicked down and a tough looking woman was standing on the other side. Her jaw dropped when she saw you and you heard her faintly cry out, “HUMAN!” And then you were swept away by a powerful gust of wind.

*************************************************************************************************************************************************

“you can, uh, open your eyes now. we’re someplace safe.”

You hadn’t realized that your eyes were squeezed shut. You opened them hesitantly and took in your new surroundings. It was really dark and musty. The ground squished underneath your feet. The ceiling was peppered with glowing blue crystals. You had absolutely no clue as to where you were.

“This isn’t Snowdin is it?”

“it’s waterfall. the next town over. i actually brought you to temmie village. sorry. they’re annoying but it’s the only place i knew undyne would never come,” Sans explained hastily. 

“That’s okay…”

“uh…heh…you can, uh, you can let go of my hand now. i know touching bare bone is weird for you.”

You felt a blush creep onto your cheeks. You let go and quickly recoiled your hand. You didn’t really think about it before, but now that Sans had mentioned it – yeah, touching bare bones was really weird. 

You turned away from Sans to look around Temmie Village. It was filled with a bunch of shaking cat-like creatures. They were…cute? 

“Hoi! I’m Temmie! And this is my friend, Temmie!”

“Hoi! OMG humans you too cute!!!!”

“Hoi! Do you have the dog residue! Tems looooove teh dog residue!”

You had no idea what to make of these tems, but you liked them. Sans handed you a packet of something called ‘Temmie Flakes.’ You opened it and the entire village swarmed around you, all begging to be fed. The sight of so many cute creatures crowding around you filled you with determination. It reminded you a bit of feeding ducks in the pond. 

After the Temmies finished off the packet of flakes, they all returned to whatever they were doing. You walked over to Sans, who was resting against a cave wall near the entrance to the village.

“always come with a pack of temmie flakes, you will be a friend for life,” he grinned, “just don’t over-feed them or else you’ll give ‘em a _temmie-ache_.”

“Ha...ha…” 

“what’s eatin’ ya?” Sans asked, but you had a feeling that he already knew.

“What am I supposed to do now? We can’t go back to your place! I have nowhere to go and…oh my God! Frisk! Sans, what about Frisk? Are they going to be okay? If that royal guard got them I…I don’t know what I would do.” You were starting to panic. Sans placed a firm hand on your shoulder. His eyes were closed.

“frisk will be fine. my bro, he’s strong ya know? if undyne showed up…well, don’t worry. frisk is in good hands. and besides…frisk…they’d be fine even without pap. they really would.”

You looked at Sans skeptically. He shrugged. He left to call Papyrus to make plans to meet up somewhere in Waterfall. When he returned, he said the call went to voicemail. That didn’t make you feel better about your situation. 

You found it difficult to sit around and idly wait for Papyrus and Frisk to call back. You paced around Temmie Village nearly a hundred times. Sans tried to talk you into sitting down, but you had too much nervous energy. Finally, the phone rang.

“what’s up bro?”

“What is it?” you asked frantically. “How is Frisk? Where are they? Are they nearby? Can we go and meet them now?”

“ok.”

“What’s okay? Frisk’s okay? Sans, talk to me, what is going on?” You moved close to him to try and listen in on the conversation. 

“i’ll be right there…don’t worry about it, i know a shortcut.” Sans hung up and pocketed the phone. He looked at you and said, “don’t move. seriously. don’t. i’ll be right back.”

“Wait, where are you going?” you asked, but in the blink of an eye Sans was gone. You chewed on your lower lip and tried to relax. He said he was going to be right back. You knew you were going to have to wait.

…

…

…

You couldn’t wait.

You were still wearing Sans’s jacket. You put the hood up over your head and hoped it would be enough to hide your face as you walked through Waterfall. You left Temmie Village and started making your way through the cavern. It was very dim, and you had to keep stopping to readjust your eyes to the light. Crystals twinkled above you, gems twinkled below you. You felt as though you were caught in a blue kaleidoscope with the way the colors of the tunnels swirled together. You stuck your hands into the jacket pockets, hoping to warm them up. Waterfall wasn’t that much warmer than Snowdin, much to your dismay. You had no idea where you were going, and you started to regret not heeding Sans’s instructions to stay put.

You walked along, trying to keep track of all the twists and turns of the cavern. It was getting difficult because there was progressively less and less light where you were going. You stopped to rest against an old crumbled pillar. You really wished you hadn’t left Temmie Village.

Suddenly, you heard the sound of grinding metal behind you. You slowly turned around, and you were face to face with a tall, threatening suit of armor. They pulled out a spear, and aimed it right at your heart.

“Shit!” You screamed, scrambling to get up off the floor. You ran as fast as you could in the other direction, dodging spears and arrows. A few managed to scrape your arms and back, taking pieces of Sans’s jacket and some of your HP as well. Eventually you came across a large mossy field with plenty of patches of tall grass to hide in. You ducked in the grass, hoping that you wouldn’t get caught. You crouched down and panted heavily while you prayed to whatever gods were out there to protect you. 

Loud crunching footsteps made their way through the marsh. You heard the clangs of metal and the steps got closer and closer. You held your breath and squeezed your eyes shut, you shook in anticipation.

A spear was shot into the ground a few feet to your left. You shook even harder and covered your mouth to keep you from crying out. Undyne (at least you were pretty sure it was Undyne) turned around and left. The footsteps grew fainter and fainter until they were completely gone. The field was completely silent save for the unbelievably loud pounding of your heart. You stood up and started walking in the opposite direction. You barely made it out of the marsh when you heard a rustling behind you. You stiffened and turned around, hoping that it wasn’t something that wanted to kill you.

A small orange monster in a striped shirt ran out and bounded towards you. He looked really excited. “Y-yo! Didja see the way Undyne was looking at you? Man, a few more inches to the left and you would’ve totally gotten to meet her!” 

You breathed out a sigh of relief. You’ve seen this monster before in Snowdin. They liked playing with Frisk. “Yeah, it’s…it’s okay, I don’t need to meet her. You’re MK right?”

“Yeah that’s me!” he beamed. “O-oh…you’re not gonna tell my mom about this are you? She…she doesn’t know that I’m out here. I’m not really supposed to be, but I just wanted to see Undyne! She’s so cool…” he trailed off.

You shrugged. “I won’t tell her you’re out here. I used to sneak out a lot when I was your age too,” you told him. 

“Yo that’s totally cool of you! Thanks!”

“Hey MK, can I ask you for a favor?” He nodded. “Do you think you could take me to Temmie Village? I’m really lost.” You knew you should’ve listened to Sans, but maybe if luck was on your side you could beat him back and he would never know that you left. 

“Yeah, for sure! Hey, you and that other kid have been staying with the skeletons right? That’s cool. Papyrus is really nice to me…yo, he even promised that when he became a part of the royal guard, he would personally introduce me to Undyne! Isn’t that cool?” The two of you started walking and MK took the lead. 

You wondered if Papyrus knew Undyne was trying to kill you. _Probably not…_

“What about Sans?” you asked.

“Oh…” MK thought for a moment before he said, “I dunno. He’s kind of weird. Yo, but once he wanted to see how many hot dogs he could stack on my head. We got to, like, 30 before his arms couldn’t reach the top anymore,” MK laughed. “Yo, actually that was really awesome! But he doesn’t really stick around Snowdin that often…well, until you showed up.”

“Me?”

“Yeah. And he smiles more too.”

You didn’t really know what to say to that, so you didn’t say anything. Eventually you saw a clumsily made cardboard sign with the words “weLcUM 2 temm VilagE” scrawled on it in sharpie. You thanked MK.

“No problem! Thanks for not telling my mom. See ya!” he ran off, tripping over his own feet, but getting up just as quickly and disappearing out of sight. 

When you entered the village, the first thing you noticed was Frisk at the vendor stand, placing gold piece after gold piece down on the counter.

“FRISK!” You called out, running up to them. They dropped the rest of their gold on the floor and ran to you. They tackled you in a huge hug. Happy tears of relief sprang to your eyes and you held them close to you. “I’m so glad to see you.”

“HUMAN!” You let go of Frisk to see Papyrus making his way towards you. “HUMAN, ARE YOU ALRIGHT? HOW DID YOU GET THOSE INJURIES?”

You glanced down at your arm which had a few cuts. You had almost forgotten. “I’m okay Pap. Just…had a bit of a run in with some spears.” You looked around and frowned, “Where’s Sans?”

“WHEN WE CAME BACK HERE AND MY BROTHER SAW THAT YOU WERE MISSING, HE LEFT TO FIND YOU. I HAVE NEVER SEEN HIM LOOK SO WORRIED. SO FOR THAT, I MUST DO THIS, I AM SORRY.” Papyrus curled his hand into a fist and bopped the top of your head lightly. “PLEASE DO NOT MAKE MY BROTHER WORRY. NOW I WILL HAVE TO CALL HIM TO LET HIM KNOW THAT YOU ARE HERE. AND NOT DEAD. WHICH HE SEEMS TO INSIST THAT YOU WOULD BE.”

Well, so much for getting back before he noticed. You shuffled your feet a bit and fiddled with the hem of Sans’s jacket. You felt bad. You didn’t mean to make him worry about you, but you couldn’t sit around and do nothing. 

You wandered around Temmie Village and saw that Frisk went back to the vendor and was counting out their gold coins. You approached them and asked, “Where on earth did you get all that money Frisk? And what are you doing with it now?”

“I’m sending Temmie to college,” Frisk said simply, as though it obvious. They pushed their stacks of gold coins to Temmie, who took them and then disappeared. Frisk gave you another hug and whispered, “I’m glad you’re not dead.”

You stroked their hair and said, “Hey, I can’t make good on that promise I made if I’m dead. Don’t worry about me, kid. It’s fine.”

“i thought i told you to stay here.”

You turned to see Sans standing behind you. He was grimacing and was breathing heavily. You pushed Frisk away, and they took the chance to go talk to Papyrus. You cleared your throat and said, “I felt useless sitting around.”

“that’s not an excuse.”

“I…yeah, no, it isn’t. I’m sorry,” you apologized. You scratched the back of your head and realized that Sans’s jacket had rips where Undyne’s spears had gotten you. “Ah…sorry about your jacket. I, um…well…”

“you ran into undyne, didn’tchya?” Sans was starting to look angry. You trembled, but didn’t respond. He closed his eyes and grimaced again. He reached into his shorts pocket, pulled out an old looking phone, and handed it to you. “call me or pap the next time you’re in trouble.”

“Okay, I will,” you took the phone gingerly. 

Sans turned from you and sighed loudly and said, “you nearly gave me a heart attack which is quite a feat because i don’t even have a heart.”

“I’m sorry,” you apologize again. 

“well c’mon. we’ve gotta get goin. grab the kid and let’s get outta here.” Sans didn’t even bother looking back at you, so you knew he was still pretty mad. 

You, Frisk, and Papyrus follow Sans out of Temmie Village and through Waterfall in silence. You had no idea where Sans was taking you, but you didn’t want to risk running away. He might not be as forgiving a second time around.

You walked for a half hour before you felt like someone was watching you. You tried to shake the feeling, but it wouldn’t go away. You looked behind you after every step you took. You were starting to feel paranoid. You were about to say something about being followed, but suddenly Undyne leapt out in front of you. She held her spear out menacingly. 

“UNDYNE!” Papyrus shouted. “LISTEN, YOU REALLY SHOULD MEET THE HUMANS. THEY ARE QUITE NICE AND NOTHING AT ALL LIKE WHAT YOU TOLD ME. WE CAN ALL BE REALLY COOL FRIENDS AND EAT SPAGHETTI AND WATCH THAT ANNIE-MAY YOU AND ALPHYS ENJOY SO MUCH.”

Undyne did not lower her spear. 

“leave,” Sans said coolly. “just take this as a chance to walk away and leave.”

“Do you really think I would just let two humans walk?!” Undyne spat. “Papyrus, I can’t believe you would betray me like this!”

“UNDYNE I…I JUST THINK IF YOU WOULD TALK TO THE HUMANS-”

“Talk!” Undyne scoffed, “The time for talking is over! What’s the point if I’m just going to take their souls! They do not deserve my mercy!”

“i really hate to have to do this, ya know how much i hate fights,” Sans began to glow a soft blue. 

“BROTHER, WAIT-”

Undyne looked surprised, but refused to back down. “Well, I guess you’ve made your choice. NOW PERISH BY MY SWORD.”

You had never seen a fight from the outside before. It looked weird, like a fuzzy flickering. It was like bad lag on an old video game. Sometimes Undyne or Sans would come into focus, just to fade again in a few seconds. If you concentrated hard, you could make out the outlines of their attacks. You watched Undyne get hit a few times, but when she made a move towards Sans, he would just disappear and reappear in a different location. 

“Is…he allowed to do that?” From what you gathered, monster fights were pretty fair. Much more fair than human ones. There was turn taking and certain rules. You felt that teleportation really put the odds of the fight in Sans’s favor. 

“MY BROTHER…IF HE FOUGHT FAIRLY HE WOULD DIE. SO HE HAS TO BEND THE RULES. UNDYNE KNEW WHAT SHE WAS GETTING INTO.”

You glanced over at Frisk, they chose to look away from the battle. They were sitting crosslegged on the floor and picking grass from the ground. You figured that they were probably worried that Sans might lose. You swallowed. Undyne wanted to kill you for your soul right? You vaguely recall some other monsters mentioning it. One more soul. 

Just one.

“Hey Pap, can you answer something for me?” 

Papyrus’s eye sockets didn’t leave the fight. “I CAN TRY.”

“What would happen to me if I just…walked through their battle? Would it affect me in any way?”

“HMMMM,” Papyrus thought for a moment. “I SUPPOSE YOU WOULD GET CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE AND PERISH. HUMAN, PLEASE DO NOT TELL ME THAT YOU ARE THINKING WHAT I THINK YOU’RE THINKING.”

You patted his arm gently and said, “Promise me that you’ll watch out for Frisk, okay?”

“HUMAN, IF I DON’T MAKE THAT PROMISE THEN YOU WON’T GO, SO I WILL NOT PROMISE YOU.”

“Heh, Pap you really are clever…” you already started walking towards Sans and Undyne. “But I know you’re too nice to not look out for them so…” just a few more steps, you ran now. “So, goodbye my friend.”

Everything became clear. You ran towards the middle of the fight as quickly as you could, arriving just as Sans launched a bone attack. A dense wall of bones flew towards you, and you were hit with every single one. The pain was immense. Not only did the bones hurt (and it felt like each one hit you with the force of a boulder) but there was residual pain in your blood. It felt like poison, and it burned you from the inside out. You felt as though you were drowning in an ocean of fire. Everything was hot and you couldn’t breathe. 

But nothing hurt you more than seeing Sans face when he realized he had hit you instead of Undyne. It was more painful than any poison.

You watched your soul leave your body. You had forgotten how pretty it was. Brighter than any crystal you saw in Waterfall.

Now you were dead.

**_[RESET]_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I must give credit to AO3 user addendumb for pointing out that Sans and Papyrus would probably fight for the reader. so this whole chapter was kind of toying with the idea of having Sans go on the defensive.  
> it'll probably be a recurring thing in this fic, idk


	4. First Phone Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A mysterious cellphone is left by the entrance of the ruins with only a single contact listed: Call for Help. Not knowing what else to do, you call the number and hope for the best.

You woke up in darkness. There was a dull burning in the back of your throat and your stomach churned. You rolled to your side as you felt your stomach lurch and you vomited onto the bed of golden flowers beside you.

_Ugh…_

You shakily stood up and looked away before you had the chance to throw up whatever was left in your system. You looked around for one of the water bottles you had packed in your bag. When you found one that hadn’t burst, you took a long swig and spat out the disgusting taste in your mouth. You took a few more sips and the coolness of the water soothed the burn that was building in your throat again. 

_God, what happened to me?_

You wiped your mouth and grabbed your Polaroid, which had fallen nearby. You didn’t bother checking for scratches on it. You knew it was fine.

*****************************************************************************************

You and Frisk had just left the ruins when you found a box packed with warm clothes and an old cellphone. The phone had a single contact: Call for Help. It seemed really suspicious and you weren’t sure if you could trust it. You looked around for the owner of the box, but there was no one around and no note attached. Still, you felt like it was meant for you. 

The walk through the snowy forest was very calming and quiet. You only stopped to take a quick photo of what you considered to be a once in a lifetime shot. Even though they didn’t say anything, you could tell something was off about Frisk. Back when the two of you were at Toriel’s, they were a fairly happy-go-lucky and chatty kid. Now, they looked worried and it seemed as though they were looking for someone. You weren’t sure how they would even know someone here to look for. 

“You okay Frisk?” you asked, feeling a little concerned.

“Yeah, it’s just really quiet is all…” they said, but you weren’t convinced. 

They had a point though. The whole walk was peaceful, but it was missing something like the chirping of birds or the chattering of woodland creatures. Does the Underground even have woodland creatures? You would have to ask someone. 

Eventually, you came across Snowdin. First on the agenda was finding food and a place to stay. You ask around, and everyone points you in the direction of Snowdin’s Inn located on the edge of town. Unfortunately, you asked the innkeep and it was going to be 80G per night. You had hardly enough money to pay for a bag of chips let alone book a room. You thought of the cellphone and wondered whether this was a dire enough situation to “call for help,” but if you didn’t find a place to stay, you’d freeze to death.

“What do you think Frisk? Should I call?” you knew that asking for the advice of an eight year old might not be in your best interests, but you felt that Frisk was a bit more than your average kid.

They nodded. “Yeah! I think it’s a great idea. Whoever it is could probably really, really help us. And I’m sure they really want to talk to you.”

You raised an eyebrow and asked, “Why do you say that?”

“Well I mean, why else leave you a phone?” they said quickly. You narrowed your eyes. Suspicious. 

They had a point though, so you agreed to call. You pulled up the contact and your finger lingered over the call button. There were too many possibilities of this person being bad news. You vaguely recalled seeing a story about a murder last week. Or was it two weeks ago? A month? You shook your head. The timing didn’t matter. What counted was the chance that maybe this person was an axe murderer or a kidnapper or a-

**_Ring…Ring…_**

The sound of ringing brought you out of your thoughts. You almost dropped the phone in surprise and Frisk laughed. “You were taking too long, so I pushed it,” they said.

You gave Frisk a disapproving look and almost hung up, but before you could someone answered.

“hey.”

The voice sounded deeper than you imagined.

“Hey…” you said back. “Um…” _Fuck, what am I supposed to say?_ “Did you leave this in a box by the ruins?”

“yeah,” there was a really long pause and you were afraid he hung up. “did you, uh, need help or something?”

His voice sounded really sad and strained. You wondered why.

“Kind of. I just arrived in Snowdin and I don’t know where to go. I’ve got a kid with me, so it’s important that we go someplace safe.” You hesitated telling a stranger that you had a child with you, but you figured there was a higher chance he would take pity on someone who had two mouths to feed.

There was another really long pause. What’s up with this guy? Finally he replied, “the inn. ya know where it is dontchya? there’s a room already paid for. the booking is under the name serif. use it.”

“What? Are you sure? How could I ever possibly repay you for that?” you scrambled trying to think of odd jobs you could do in this town. Shovel snow?

“don’t worry about it. i got connections.”

He hung up. 

You looked at Frisk and smiled brightly. “It worked!” you exclaimed, although you still weren’t really sure if you should trust this stranger.

You walked back to the inn and checked in, but you were worried that the name wouldn’t go through and that you’d be back at square one. However, true to his word, there was a room reserved under the mysterious “Serif.”

“Mmmmm,” the clerk hummed. 

“What is it?”

“Oh, it’s nothing hun. Here are your keys. It’s the room upstairs two doors to the right,” she handed you a set of keys. 

You didn’t want to seem suspicious, but you had to ask anyways, “Um, how long is this reservation for exactly? A night? Two?”

One of the clerk’s ears perked up, acting almost as an eyebrow raise. “Why, it’s an indefinite reservation. It will go on a tab and then we bill you later.”

Oh god, oh no. This really was too much to accept from a stranger. You shook your head fiercely. “No, no that will not be necessary!” you squeaked, “I would like to shorten my…indefinite stay to…to two nights.”

The clerk nodded and said, “Sure, of course. I just need your reservation number and oh, yes, it says here that the person who made the reservation requested a password in order to make any changes.” They looked at you expectantly.

“I…I don’t know…I don’t know any of that information,” you said flatly. You turned, defeated from the check in desk, and started walking up the stairs.

“Enjoy your stay at Snowdin Inn!” the clerk shouted.

You opened the door and Frisk bounded in and flung themselves onto the mattress. You couldn’t even blame them, you would do the same except that now you had a phone call to make.

**_Ring…ring…_ **

“hey,”

“Yeah! Hey! Hi! Hello, what do you mean indefinite stay?!” you screeched. 

“well. how was i s’posed to know how long you would stay?” he asked. “if ya need the room for two days, fine. if ya need it for a month, fine.”

“We’re not going to need it for a month!” you exclaimed as you started pacing around the room. There was a knock at the door, and Frisk got up to answer it. “Seriously, dude, you’re awesome and all, but it really is too much.”

Frisk came back holding two mugs. “Room service brought us two mugs of hot chocolate,” they said, handing you a cup. “Said it was ordered under the name Serif, that’s who you’re talking to right?” 

“Hot chocolate too?” you asked incredulously. “This is too much.”

“i thought it would be nice,” he whispered. “you like it, dontchya?”

He sounded so sad and so broken you almost wanted to cry. You let your shoulders slump as you grabbed the mug from Frisk’s hand. You take a long sip. Man, there was nothing better than a cup of hot cocoa. “Yeah, yeah I like it. Thanks.”

He hung up.

******************************************************************************************

The next morning you called him again. 

“hey.”

“Hey, so like, what’s your deal?” you realized that the question sounds incredibly rude and demanding, but it had to be asked. 

“whaddya mean?”

“I mean that people don’t usually do this kind of thing for each other. You don’t know me and I don’t know you and like…do you want something?”

“no!” he said, a bit too quickly, “i don’t want anything. i just…you’re a human? and that kid, they’re human too?”

“What of it?” you asked. 

“some monsters…they’re not really nice. to humans i mean. you could probably walk around snowdin for the most part, but there are a handful of monsters out there who wanna kill you.”

You felt a chill go down your spine. You knew that there were risks to leaving the ruins, Toriel had told you as much, but it seemed like a scare tactic to keep you with her. You thought she might’ve just been selfish. Hearing that you might die from someone else, a stranger at that, really made you rethink your plan to get Frisk home.

“Yeah, so I’ve been warned,” you responded. “But you…don’t want to kill us?”

“no.”

It was so definitive. You believed him immediately.

“i made a promise. a promise to protect humans who walk through the ruins.”

“Sounds like a pretty tough promise to keep,” you say offhandedly. You wondered how strong this guy was. If he was a monster hell-bent on protecting humans you imagined that he would have to fight a few battles.

“it is. ya don’t know how much trouble i go through to keep some of them alive. and i hate havin to go through trouble,” he said. His voice sounded laced with guilt, and you wondered if he had to watch some of his humans die. But asking that would be rude. 

“Well, don’t worry about us. We can manage,” you say.

“you don’t even have a penny to your name,” the voice says dryly. “and around here, money talks.”

“As it does everywhere…” you murmur. “Well thanks for the chat.”

“yeah…”

“Oh, so you’re Serif right? Or should I call you something else? Calling you the weirdo with the cellphone might be a tad rude,” you smile. 

“serif’sfine,” he quickly mumbled and hung up.

Huh. Serif. It had a nice ring to it. 

***************************************************************************************

You asked nearly every resident in Snowdin, but no one had heard of anyone named Serif. You wondered if he’s even from Snowdin at all or if he’s disappeared into nothingness. You and Frisk walked along the streets of Snowdin back towards the inn. You felt discouraged by your lack of information. 

“Maybe he wants to keep it a secret,” Frisk said with a shrug. “I dunno, he seems like the secretive type. Quiet, mysterious, sticks to the shadows! Sounds really romantic!”

“You’ve been watching too much trash TV on paperview at the inn, haven’t you?” you asked teasingly, tickling their sides.

“Hahaha, no don’t do that!” they squealed, “noooo stop!”

You obliged and then took a seat on a snowy bench. Frisk sat down next to you and cuddled into your side. You pulled out your camera and held it out. _Click._ Caption: Tenth Snow Day. You smiled at the photo and Frisk nodded approvingly. They took the photo and put it in their pocket. You pat their head gently and said, “It isn’t romantic. It’s just…they’re a good person I guess. I don’t know. This whole situation seems really weird.”

“Is it bad?” Frisk asked.

“No…not bad. Just…it’s just weird why anyone would take to humans so easily and go to such lengths to look out for them.”

“Toriel did,” Frisk pointed out. You didn’t really have a response for that because, hey, it was true. 

*****************************************************************************************

The next time you talk to Serif is two days later. You were seriously hesitating to call because he had been looking out for you pretty well the last couple of days. You got room service three times a day and nearly everyone in town knew to look out for you when you were at the shops. Whenever you tried to buy something, they said someone who wanted to go by Serif already told them to put it on his tab.

It was nice. But frustrating. 

**_Ring…ring…_ **

“hey.”

“Hey, so yeah this whole secret identity thing really isn’t working out for me anymore. I’ve asked everyone who you are. They all totally know because they’ve all spoken to you and yet here I am still not having any idea who my mysterious benefactor is.”

“i said to call for help.”

He hung up.

Rude.

***************************************************************************************

The next time you talk to Serif is another two days later, but this time he calls you.

“do not leave the inn.”

He hung up.

Later that afternoon you overheard a loud conversation outside. Someone was on the lookout for a set of humans that they heard passed through Snowdin. Everyone said they saw nothing out of the ordinary. 

You’re pretty sure Serif just saved your life. 

**************************************************************************************

You knew that you should probably get a move on and work towards other parts of the Underground, you couldn’t bring yourself to leave the comfort of Snowdin. It was like leaving Toriel and the ruins all over again.

That…and you were really, really curious as to who Serif really was.

You spent a lot of time in the local shops and restaurants. You took Frisk out on long walks and strained your ears to try and catch even a whisper of his voice, but it never comes. And it was bothering the crap out of you.

“Call him,” Frisk said simply. 

“I dunno, should I? Last time I called and it wasn’t for help, he got mad at me.”

“Hmmm…then ask for help. Ask what we should get for dinner!” They suggested.

**_Ring…ring…_ **

“hey.”

“Hi again…it’s been awhile…”

“yup.”

“Um…so I need your help deciding what Frisk and I should eat tonight,” you winced at how lame it sounded. You knew he could probably see right through you, but you almost didn’t care. 

“hmmm…ya should go to grillby’s. best burgers and fries in the entire underground,” he said simply.

“Yeah? You think so?”

“wouldn’t lie to ya, pal.”

_Pal…_

“Um, but what if we want dessert after? Where should we go for that?”

The conversation became a little easier after that. You asked Serif about the best spots in town, even though you’ve visited each one ten times over. It was nice to hear his voice. He kind of reminded you of a long lost friend you used to have. His voice was pleasant to listen to, especially since it lost the edge it had the first time you spoke. 

It filled you with determination. 

***************************************************************************************

“Frisk, are you happy here?” you asked one day. The two of you were curled up on one of the beds. You decided to spend the day inside and watch TV because there was heavy snowfall outside. 

“Yeah, Snowdin’s great,” they said with a yawn. They stretched and snuggled in closer to you. “Besides, I know you don’t wanna leave yet.”

“What? Why do you…why do you say that?”

Frisk looked at you with a strange look. “Because,” they said slowly, “you want to meet Serif.”

You felt your face flush. “I…okay…maybe, but just a little. I’m always hoping that one day he will just show up and say ‘hey, it’s me.” Your cheeks felt very warm. Every day that passed just made you more curious. You couldn’t quite picture what Serif would look like. You couldn’t exactly picture a human, since this was the world of monsters. But what kind of monster was he exactly? Was he tall and muscular? Short and squishy? Something in between? And, looks aside, what was he like personality-wise? Clearly he was kind and generous, but you knew there had to be more to the story. 

You decided to call him.

“hey.”

“Hi, so I need you to help me squash my curiosity.”

“heh, about what?”

“About you. And please don’t hang up!” you shook a bit. “You don’t have to tell me any personal details I just need to know. I mean, _throw me a bone_ here.”

There was a really long pause before he started chuckling. And then that chuckling morphed into straight up laughter. A few more seconds and he was practically howling. You weren’t really sure why he was laughing so hard. You didn’t think you said anything particularly funny. You looked over at Frisk, who was also chuckling to themselves. _What the hell? What did I say?_

“sure thing buddy. whaddya wanna know?”

“Everything,” you answer honestly.

“everything? kinda a tall order there,” he said. “hmmm, but i s’pose i could spare a few minutes.”

“What do you do? For a living I mean?” maybe if you found out where he worked, you could run into him.

“hmmm, i work here and there,” he responded cryptically. 

“What do you like to do for fun?” 

“this and that.”

“Are you serious?”

“No, I’m Serif.”

You pause. Did he just… “That was a terrible joke.”

“but are ya smilin?”

Damn. You were. 

***************************************************************************************

You called Serif almost every single day after that. Your conversations were usually pretty short and consisted of bad jokes (“did you hear the joke about spare change? …yeah it doesn’t make cents to me either” “ya know, its hard to explain puns to a kleptomaniac because they always take things, literally”). However, there were days when you talked for hours.

You learned that he had a younger brother who he loved very much. Serif confided that he worked many jobs so that his brother wouldn’t have to worry about money. You thought it was very heartwarming how much he cared.

You also learned that Serif had an affinity for ketchup. “can’t get enough of the stuff, kinda grosses people out though,” he said. He laughed and joked, “But I’m sure one day they’ll _ketchup_ to the trend. And when they do I will _relish_ in the moment.”

“Hah, that was bad and ketchup is gross,” you said. 

“More for me.”

Slowly over time, the sadness and guilt that was always in his voice started to trickle away. You wondered what happened and after several days of talking you decided to finally pluck up the courage and ask.

“oh,” was his response. 

“Don’t hang up,” you begged, “I just thought that…since we’ve gotten kind of close, that you might want to tell me what’s been bothering you these past couple of weeks.”

He sighed, but began to tell you what happened. “a friend, well, maybe a friend, i dunno…she died recently.”

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry,” you apologized. “If I knew I wouldn’t have asked.”

There was a long pause. Your heart started pumping harder. Was he mad? “’s fine. we weren’t that close but…it felt like we were. or that we coulda been.”

“How…how did she die?”

There was another long pause, and then a choked sob. You suddenly wished that you hadn’t pushed him, he clearly wasn’t ready to talk about you. You tried to say it was okay that he didn’t answer, it was fine, really, but he stopped you. “i killed her.”

Your heart dropped.

“i didn’t…i didn’t mean to. i was in a fight, ironically to protect her,” you heard him start to cry again. “she walked straight into it, i dunno what got into her.”

You didn’t know what to say, but you wanted to comfort him. “It’s okay, I’m sure she knew what she was doing, walking into a fight like that. It isn’t your fault.”

“it is.”

“It isn’t,” you said firmly. “And there’s no use in blaming yourself for it. If you do that you’re just going to feel guilty for the rest of your life, but without you I would be dead right now. I’m…I’m so grateful for everything you’ve done and your jokes and…you. I’m just, I’m really grateful for you.”

“i don’t deserve you.”

“You deserve the world,” you say honestly, “and you deserve to be happy.”

***************************************************************************************

You decided not to call Serif for a few days to give him some space. Another few days go by and you’re doing some shopping in the market. You made your way down the aisle and you bumped into someone, sending about ten boxes of spaghetti flying through the air. You stooped down to pick them up. 

“Sorry, sorry, I’m so sorry!” you apologized, handing the boxes back, letting your jaw drop a little when you saw the person in front of you. The person you had bumped into was a tall skeleton. Human-like but also not at the same time. He looked a bit frightening with how much bigger he was than you. You gulped. He was someone you had never seen around Snowdin before.

“IT IS NOT A PROBLEM FOR THE GREAT PAPYRUS. YOU SEE…WAIT. OH MY GOD!” 

Oh my god what?

“ARE YOU A HUMAN?!”

You didn’t know whether to be honest or tell a lie. But Serif always called and gave notice if a human hunter was in town, so you took your chances on telling the truth. 

“Yes.”

“OH MY GOD. MY PUZZLES. THEY ARE NOT PROPERLY CALIBRATED!” The skeleton threw all the boxes of pasta on the floor, grabbed your wrist, and pulled you out of the store. “THIS WILL NOT DO, BUT I SUPPOSE I HAVE NO OTHER CHOICE. THE GREAT PAPYRUS NEVER GIVES UP.”

“Where are you taking me?” you ask meekly. The skeleton was dragging you through the snow as if you were a rag doll. He was clearly much stronger than you. Fighting wasn’t an option. Running wasn’t an option. Maybe talking would help.

“WHY TO MY MAGNIFICENT PUZZLES OF COURSE. YOU WILL THEN COMPLETE THE PUZZLES AND LET ME CAPTURE YOU.”

You yanked back on your wrist, surprising Papyrus enough to let you go. “You can’t be serious!” you said. “I can’t let myself get captured.”

“OF COURSE YOU CAN. AND THEN I WILL HAND YOU OVER TO UNDYNE AND THEN I WILL BECOME VERY POPULAR.”

You really didn’t understand how all those things were connected, and frankly you didn’t care. You didn’t know what to do, so you turned and ran, but you were suddenly caged in a cell of blue bones. 

“Let me out!” you shouted. You hit the bars as hard as you could, but your hand felt like it had been beaten in a blender.

“THAT IS MY BLUE MAGIC. IF YOU DON’T MOVE IT WON’T HURT YOU.” Papyrus explained.

_Crap, crap, crap._

You pulled out the cellphone and dialed.

“hey.”

“Oh my god please help me a giant skeleton has me as his prisoner I think he’s going to kill me please, please, please I really do need help this time.”

He hung up.

_No…_

You couldn’t believe it. You felt tears spring to your eyes. You thought you could trust him. You take another swipe at the bars, which only made your hand feel worse.

Then, you heard Papyrus’s phone ring. 

“HELLO.”

You could make out a few muffled sounds from the other end.

“SANS I’M NOT IN THE MOOD FOR ONE OF YOUR KNOCK KNOCK JOKES YOU LAZYBONES. I HAVE A HUMAN WITH ME RIGHT NOW.”

More muffled sounds.

You thought maybe the bars would give if you hit it harder. Wincing you used your hand to hit it again. The skin and muscles were starting to tingle. Probably wasn’t a good sign. 

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN LET THEM GO? DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND THAT IN A MATTER OF HOURS I COULD BE SHOWERED IN FRIENDS AND KISSES?”

Again you hit it. Hitting magical objects really had shitty side effects. You started to feel woozy. But you kept hitting the bars, and you prayed that a miracle would happen. You even started using both hands to hit the bones. 

“UGH, SANS YOU BETTER BE RIGHT ABOUT THI- OH MY GOD, HUMAN STOP! IF YOU KEEP DOING THAT YOU’RE GOING TO DEPLETE YOUR HP!”

Just a little more…

You breathed heavily with each strike, Papyrus’s words falling on deaf ears. You would get out of this cage you would. Hit, breathe, hit, breathe. 

“HUMAN THAT IS ENOUGH, I…I’M LOWERING THE BARS NOW PLEASE STOP INJURING YOURSELF THIS ISN’T WHAT I WANT.”

You took a final swing and heard something snap.

You watched as the bars disintegrated. You grinned happily, but Papyrus looked like he had been slapped in the face. There was a mixture of stunned silence and sadness written all over his face. His hand was covering his mouth in shock. Your smile faded. You almost felt bad.

“What is it Pap?”

He took a step back and orange tears welled up in his eyes. “HUMAN, WHY DID YOU CALL ME THAT…?”

_Huh…why did I call him that?_

You tried to stand, but found that you couldn’t. You looked down to see that your arms and legs were slowly dissolving. You looked up in panic, but Papyrus was looking at the ground. You reached out to him, but your arm stopped short and had almost disappeared altogether.

“YOU IGNORED ME AND DEPLETED YOUR HP,” Papyrus said, streaks of orange tears rolling down his cheeks. “AND SANS TOLD ME TO SPARE YOU…HE’S GOING TO BE SO DISAPPOINTED.”

You didn’t have time to think about who Sans was, all you could do was watch as the world faded away. 

Now you were dead.

**_[RESET]_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This ending is not what I had expected.
> 
> I wrote out 8 pages on paper while on break. I got to page 2 before deviating to this. I cannot be stopped.
> 
> Also it seems as though I've made it my mission to have every character kill you -_-


	5. First Skele-kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans is still guilty and keeps his distance as the mysterious "Serif" but when you find yourself in serious danger, will he come to your rescue?

When you woke up, you felt as though you had awoken from a weird dream. The first thing you did was check to make sure you had all of your limbs. You weren’t sure why, but you felt as though they were missing.

When you met Toriel, you made sure to thank her a million times over for her hospitality.

When you found the clothes and cellphone laying outside the ruins, you didn’t question the motives. Your first call happened before you even reached Snowdin. He called himself Serif. He made you promise to take a photo at a nearby clearing. 

You only stayed three days at the inn in Snowdin before Frisk wanted to leave for Waterfall. 

You lost your footing on the bridge and fell down the falls. The impact didn’t kill you, but you drowned before you could get to safety.

Now you were dead.

**_[RESET]_ **

When you woke up, you couldn’t stop coughing. When Toriel found you, she thought you were dying. 

You stayed away from water for a while.

When you found the phone, you waited to call until you saw the bridge with the bars.

“it’s ok. walk on through. my bro made the bars too wide to stop anybody.”

You stayed two weeks in Snowdin. Serif told you to watch your step. 

Waterfall was hard to navigate because it was so dark. Someone in a large suit of armor shot you with a spear when your back was turned. 

Now you were dead.

**_[RESET]_ **

When you woke up, your back throbbed, but you could walk.

Toriel was as sweet as the pie she made.

When you found the phone, you noticed that the contact was listed as ‘Serif,’ but Frisk urged you to call anyway. He sounded happy to hear from you. For some reason you were happy to hear from him too. 

You stayed six days in Snowdin before you felt as though you were overstaying your welcome. Serif told you to bring a flashlight. He warned you about the royal guard Undyne. 

You were grateful to have heeded his advice, and when Undyne showed up, Frisk grabbed your hand and led the way. You didn’t know how they knew when to dodge, but you were happy that they got you out safely.

Happiness didn’t last long. A monster kid tripped and nearly fell down a cliff, but you saved him just in time. Unfortunately, you were not as lucky. You fell and died on impact.

Now you were dead.

**_[RESET]_ **

You never called Serif. You were afraid that the phone really wasn’t meant for you and you wanted to see if you could make it on your own. You and Frisk were determined.

Dogamy and Dogaressa smelled suspicious smells and killed you in cold blood. 

Now you were dead.

**_[RESET]_ **

You just walked out of the ruins when you heard a cellphone ring. You saw it laying in a box by the door. You hesitated for just a second before you answered.

“Hello?” you asked, unsure if you should be answering a stranger’s phone.

“don’t.”

“Don’t?”

“don’t ignore this. i’m here to help. promise that you’ll use it.”

Under normal circumstances, this would have creeped you out, but for some reason you understood. “Okay, I promise,” you said. 

You stayed in Snowdin three weeks. Serif was nothing but hospitable. You almost didn’t want to leave. 

But you promised Frisk.

Undyne sent arrow after arrow into your heart. You were hardly in Waterfall for an hour.

Now you were dead.

**_[RESET]_ **

You decided to challenge Undyne outright when you met her.

You lasted 30 seconds.

Now you were dead.

**_[RESET]_ **

You lasted a minute.

Now you were dead.

**_[RESET]_ **

Frisk challenged Undyne before you had the chance to. 

You walked into the fight to protect them, knowing you would die.

Now you were dead.

**_[RESET]_ **

You woke up in the darkness feeling disoriented. Your whole body hurt, but you had the inexplicable feeling that you had somewhere that you needed to be. 

Toriel wished you the best when you left.

When you found the cellphone, you called Serif immediately. 

“hey.”

“Serif?”

“that’s the name, don’t wear it out.”

You and Frisk started walking through the woods. You had a tight grasp on Frisk’s hand. You talked to Serif the whole walk, and he told you all about life in the underground and what to do and where to go. You felt as though you were talking to an old friend. You laughed openly and honestly at his jokes. You asked a million questions and answered a million of his own. It was nice and comfortable talking to him.

And that voice sent shivers down your spine.

But, like, in a good way.

You weren’t really sure if it was possible to fall in love with a voice, but if it were to be any voice it would be this one. It was deep and soothing and pleasant to the ear. His chuckle was low and teasing, his laugh was loud and unapologetic. When he whispered, his voice got all gravelly and it gave you goosebumps all over. You would be lying if you said it wasn’t an attractive voice to listen to.

Unfortunately, you had no face to match such a voice. Your mind tried to conjure up an appropriate image for the voice, but it failed. And you were so, so curious. 

You asked Frisk what they thought.

“Hmmmm,” they pondered. “I think they’d be good looking.”

Well…at least they tried.

Serif was nothing but kind and generous. Almost everyone in town knew to look out for you and Frisk. You asked where you could find a person by the name of Serif, but everyone told you that there was no one by that name in Snowdin. It was hard to mask your disappointment because you wanted nothing more than to see him.

You weren’t even really sure why, though. His voice put you at ease, sure, but he was virtually a stranger. A nice stranger who wanted to protect you, but a stranger nonetheless. Yet, it felt as though you have known him a long while.

Most days the two of you talked. You called frequently to ask for “help” deciding what to wear (“something warm, it’s snowing after all”) or what to eat (“grillbys. always grillbys”). Sometimes he would call you first to warn you about someone in the area looking to capture humans. You always trusted the voice when they said to go somewhere or do something. You knew it was probably stupid to trust him, but you couldn’t help it. Even Frisk didn’t question Serif’s motives, and nothing got by that kid. If something seemed suspicious, they were usually the first to point it out. 

But you knew you couldn’t stay in Snowdin forever. You had been staying at the inn for just over a month, though it only felt like a few days. You knew that Frisk needed to get home, and you couldn’t take them there without leaving. You packed up all your belongings into your backpack and then called your buddy.

“hey.”

“Hey, do you think you could tell me how to get to the core? Frisk and I should be getting home soon,” you almost wanted to ask him to come along with you, but you got the feeling that he wouldn’t agree to it.

There was a long pause on his end before he sighed heavily. “i figured this day would come. ya gotta head through waterfall and hotland. from there, the core is a straight shot,” he explained. He went into a few more details on which direction to head to get to Waterfall.

“Great! So, what am I going to need for travel? Do I have to pack anything special?” you asked. 

“i’ll, uh, i’ll get you everything ya need. just wait until tomorrow.”

You wanted to protest that it was too much and that he had given you so much already, but the thought of catching him delivering something to you and seeing your mystery caller face to face made your heart flutter. Oh yes, you could stand to meet him tomorrow. 

“Okay!” you said a bit too quickly and too excitedly. From the bed, Frisk eyed you weirdly. You waved them off. 

“heh. ok. see ya.”

He hung up.

You smiled and threw yourself onto the bed, just barely stopping yourself from squealing in happiness. Frisk climbed into your lap and you sat up and started combing through their hair. They leaned up against you contently. 

“Where are we going?” they asked.

“Waterfall. It’s the next stop to the core. Which means it’s the next stop to us getting out of here.”

“Is that guy you’re always talking to going to help us get there?”

You blushed. “I am not always talking to him!”

“You are!”

“I’m not!”

Frisk turned to you and leaned in so you were nose to nose. “You. Are.” They smiled and broke out into giggles.

You couldn’t help but laugh with them. You shrugged and said, “Okay, maybe I do talk to him a lot. I like him.”

Frisk suddenly stopped laughing. They looked at you almost analytically and then grinned so widely you were afraid their face might break. They jumped on the bed excitedly and screamed, “You have a crush! You have a crush!”

You felt your face get warmer and warmer. Oh god, that’s not what you meant when you said you liked him was it? You tried to get Frisk to stop jumping on the bed, but they just started running around the room. You chased after them, but they were quick to dodge. Frisk ran to the bedside table and snatched up your camera. They turned it on you and _Click._ The photo printed and Frisk shook it out. They grabbed a pen and messily scribbled: First crush  <3 

They showed you the photo. Your face was beet red, but you were smiling. You laughed at the photo and grabbed Frisk into a hug. “You’re the best kiddo.”

“I know!”

*************************************************************************************************************

The next morning you walked outside the inn. It was chilly and the wind was picking up, but it was worth being cold if you had the chance to meet Serif. You just hoped he wanted to meet you too.

Suddenly your phone rang.

“H-h-hey there!” you squeaked.

There was a short chuckle before Serif’s warm voice said, “don’t tell me that’s you standing out there in the cold.”

You looked around, but saw no one. “Ha…you caught me. But where are you?”

“not important, but…but i, uh, heh, i can’t…i can’t see you.”

“What?” you exclaimed, feeling a bit disheartened. “But why not?”

“it’s complicated.”

You waited for Serif to elaborate, but no explanation came. You sighed and shrugged. “Well…okay…”

There was a long pause before Serif sighed and said, “tell ya what, i’ll approach ya if ya promise not to look.”

You wondered why these were the circumstances, but you agreed anyways because you didn’t want to pass up a chance that might never come again. 

“alright.” 

He hung up.

You wait with closed eyes and baited breath. You strain your ears to hear the crunching of footsteps or the soft murmurs of Serif’s voice, but Snowdin was quiet.

“hey.”

You jumped, not expecting his voice right in your ear. You hear him chuckle. Even though you had heard it countless times before on the phone, it sounded so much richer and full in person. _Wow what an attractive laugh._

“sorry i couldn’t resist…it’s, uh, it’s really good to see ya.” You could already feel your cheeks start to redden. _What does he think? Does he think I’m cute? Do I make him feel the way he makes me feel?_

“I wish I could say the same…put a face to the sexy voice I’ve been talking to, you know?”

_Fuck, shit, fuck, shit where did that come from? Can’t take it back now._

Serif didn’t say anything, and you were worried you might’ve scared him off. Finally he said, “heh. really? you, uh, you really think it’s sexy?” 

You had the choice now to take it back or roll with it, so you nodded slowly and said, “ _Dead_ sexy.”

There was a long silence and you started to regret your choice of rolling with it. You heard Serif chuckle and then there was hysterical laughter. You flushed in embarrassment. _Was that too forward? Does he think I’m kidding?_ When he finally stopped laughing he said, “sorry. i don’t mean to laugh at you, you just…you just reminded me of a really good joke is all.” 

You smiled, but it was a bit forced. You wondered what the joke was. You listened as his footsteps moved around and then there was a soft thud at your feet. Your heart was practically beating out of your chest. He must have only been inches away from your face. You wanted to reach out to him.

“there are a few large coats, keep your face covered, some monster food, it replenishes hp so eat it often, i also put in a map of waterfall, marked it with places to eat and stay and stuff, and uh…i put in some film for your camera. you’ll regret not having any photos in waterfall.”

You wanted to cry at the sweet gesture. You shivered and wrapped your arms around yourself and said, “Thank you again…for everything.”

“ _snow_ problem, i kinda owe ya still,” he mumbled. He sounded guilty.

“You don’t owe me anything,” you said. 

Serif laughed a bit nervously and then said, “listen, buddy, pal, ya don’t realize the weight of what you just said but trust me, if ya knew…ya wouldn’t wanna see me.”

The words hit you hard and you shivered again. You shook your head and said, “No! I would! Please, I do! I really want to see you, and I wouldn’t judge you for anything because I-” you stopped. _I what? Caught feelings for you? That’s sounds so stupid, even if it is true. And he probably doesn’t feel that way about me, so I really shouldn’t say it. But I have to say something._ “because you protect me and Frisk…anyone who does that is alright in my book,” you finished lamely. 

“ah…is that all?” he asked gently. 

_No._ “Yes.”

“you must really like that kiddo then.”

_I really like you too._ “Yeah…”

“i should go. so should you. waterfall is a bit of a walk.”

_Please come with us. Please don’t go._ “Thanks.”

“call me if ya need me.”

_What if I just want you?_ “I will.”

“see ya.”

_But when can I see you?_ “Bye.”

****************************************************************************************************

You and Frisk journeyed through Waterfall, remembering to keep your faces covered. It was one of the most beautiful places you had ever visited. You snapped photos of the beautiful waterlilies, the clear as crystal streams, the walls smattered with crystals, and of course some selfies of you and Frisk. _Click. Click. Click._

The two of you reached a field of glowing blue flowers. You stopped in awe and admired the dazzling blue glow they emitted. You kneeled down and gently brushed a petal. “They’re so beautiful,” you said.

“They’re so beautiful,” the flower repeated. You widened your eyes in shock. 

“They’re echo flowers,” Frisk explained. “They repeat the last thing that they hear.”

You snapped a photo. _Click._ Caption: Echo…echo…echo…

And so as the two of you walked, you listened to so many stories. Some were good. Some were sad. Some flowers echoed the wishes and dreams of the monsters passing by. They wished upon the crystals, the closest things they had to stars. Many flowers repeated love confessions and proposals and vows. They were likely done near the flowers to immortalize that moment of true happiness. You enjoyed going through and listening and creating stories for each flower, but then suddenly you heard:

“i’m tired of watching them die.”

Your breath hitched. It was Serif’s voice, clear as a bell. You leaned down and brushed the petals softly, willing for it to speak again.

“i’m tired of watching them die.”

Frisk suddenly looked alarmed and they started to yank on your sleeve. “We gotta go!” they said. You swatted their hand away. You could spare a few more minutes. You began listening closely to the nearby flowers, hoping that you would catch a glimmer of his voice again.

“i thought since they were new, it would finally stop. it would all just…stop.”

You hurried to the next flower, wondering what he was talking about. Who was dying? What did he want to stop?

“and maybe it will if they would quit dying and live long enough to see it.”

You didn’t know what he meant. You wondered if you missed a flower.

“i didn’t want to get attached.”

“but it’s just my luck…they turned out to be a real _bone-afied_ person.”

“it’s funny, but i think every time they come through they like a _numbskull_ like me a little bit more.”

You were really curious as to who Serif was talking about. It made your heart hurt a little, since you liked him so much. You felt as though this might be too personal, but you couldn’t stop yourself from searching for the next flower.

“i can’t believe i killed them.”

Your heart stopped. You felt a cold sweat form on your forehead. Your mystery phone crush had killed someone? Was this what he meant by not wanting to see him? You had to know what happened.

“i can hardly look them in the eye anymore.”

_What did that mean? Did he have their corpse around?_ That was creepy, you shook the thought away from your mind. He probably just meant their picture. 

“but even talking to them is hard.”

You were getting more and more confused with every flower. Frisk was also starting to look anxious. You wondered if maybe you should send them away while you listened. Maybe this was too much for them?

“i tried to be distant. it didn’t work. it still happens.”

“even without seeing their face i can’t stop myself.”

You walked on, determined to hear this story out to the end.

“it’s true what tori said.”

Tori? Did he mean Toriel? You hadn’t realized that the two were acquainted since Toriel never leaves the ruins but…did that mean that Serif could possibly be referring to a human who fell down here?

“they’re something else.”

“i can’t stay away.”

“i think i like them too.”

It was both a heartwarming and a heartcrushing thing to hear. How long ago did he tell this story? Who died and took his heart with them? You were really hoping he would drop a name sometime soon. You rushed to the next flower and bent down to listen, wanting more, needing more.

“…behind you…”

W-what?

You and Frisk slowly turned to see a large, stalking suit of armor. Your face paled. This must’ve been Undyne. She slowly started moving towards you, each footstep making a loud clanking sound that echoed through the cavern. You shuddered in fear. She unsheathed her sword and pointed it directly at Frisk. In a moment of bravery, you stood in front of Frisk and you felt something you hadn’t in a really long time.

Your soul practically jumped out of your chest which was much more painful than it usually was. You felt the dizziness and the whirlwinds and everything blurred around you. But it was different. Usually your senses stayed blurred, but this time everything returned to clarity. Your soul glowed bright white, and the sparkles flew off like snowflakes dancing in the wind. It grew until it was nearly ten times its size, and then it placed itself snuggly on your arm.

A shield.

You glanced back at Frisk, who looked completely shocked yet…proud? You were also caught off guard, but you didn’t have time to think about it. Undyne scoffed and took a swing. You moved the shield to guard your face, and it completely deflected Undyne’s attack.

She looked surprised, but she was not deterred. She took another swing. You held up your shield again. Deflected. 

“So what? You wanna fight?” she asked menacingly.

“No, I really don’t!” you shout back. 

“I was going to make this quick, but now you leave me no other option! If you want to face me then do so, don’t mess around with this petty weak bullshit!” she swung again, faster this time. You moved to deflect, but her sword made a gash in your unprotected arm. Ouch, that really hurt. 

Undyne saw her opening and began to make fast attacks, cutting up your arms as though they were made of paper. Your shield started to weaken and you couldn’t move as quickly. You had to think fast, so you pulled your phone out of your pocket and threw it to Frisk.

“Call,” you demanded, shielding your face again. 

“Hohoho! You think you can evade me by calling for help? What’s that going to do for you? NOBODY is out here. NOBODY can save you.” 

Undyne readied her sword again and began her attack, you moved to dodge when you were suddenly scooped up and whisked away in a cloud of blue smoke. 

****************************************************************************************************

When you landed, you felt a bit dizzy and your vison was blurred. You felt your soul shrink and nestle itself back into your chest. You stumbled a bit as the world started to sharpen and two bony hands steadied you and set you down on a couch. When your vision cleared, you were face to face with a nervous looking skeleton who had a bright blue blush and beads of sweat forming at the top of their skull. 

_Oh my god he’s adorable._

“Serif?” you asked hesitantly. 

He gave you a sheepish grin and rubbed the back of his head. “uh, ‘round here they call me sans,” he paused. “i’m prolly not what you’re expecting though.”

No, he wasn’t anything like what you were expecting. You had met several different kinds of monsters, but skeletons wasn’t one of them. You looked him up and down. He was shorter than you expected him to be, and wider too (especially since he was a skeleton), and his clothes looked worn in and comfortable. You wondered if Frisk called while he was sleeping, since he looked a bit frazzled and his shirt and hoodie were slightly wrinkled. No, it wasn’t what you were expecting at all; however, it was more fitting than any other image you could have possibly conjured. It was…so Sans.

Sans. That name strangely seemed to suit the skeleton in front of you more than ‘Serif,’ even though that’s all you’ve known him as for weeks. You shook your head and said, “Not exactly, but it fits you better than anything I could ever think of.”

His blush darkened and he turned to face away from you as he said, “uh, heh, really now? ya think so?”

It was weird. He sounded so much more suave and confident over the phone, but in real life he was a nervous and flustered mess. You smiled. It was actually really endearing. And it was actually really cute.

“I think they’re bleeding,” Frisk said as they pointed out all the cuts on your arm. 

Sans turned around to look at you again, but this time he came close and started inspecting your arms. He looked worried as he turned your hands over. “ah, shit, undyne got you good, didn’t she…well, uh, i mean at least you didn’t die,” he said.

“They turned their soul into a shield,” Frisk said. They jumped up onto the couch and poked the center of your chest. “Show him!”

Sans looked at you expectantly. You swallowed and squared your jaw. You thought hard about your soul coming out and expanding. You willed it to leave your body, but nothing happened. You tried again, thinking even harder. You scrunched up your face and you tried to think about forcefully tearing your soul out.

“don’t hurt yourself,” Sans said quickly, putting his hand on your arm and grazing a cut. You flinched and recoiled your arm. “shit, sorry, i, uh, ok i’ll get you some bandages. wait here,” he apologized and left.

Frisk looked at you with wide eyes. “Try it again!” they encouraged. 

It was difficult to focus on bringing out the soul. In the fight you had with Toriel, she tugged on it effortlessly. You assumed that you could only bring out the soul for a fight, but this clearly wasn’t the case. You tried to remember what it felt like to have your soul summoned. You closed your eyes and brought your palms to your chest. You willed the soul to come out again and pulled with your mind.

“You’re doing it!” Frisk cried out excitedly. 

You opened your eyes to see shimmery white wisps float through the air. Some brushed through Frisk’s hair and furled around their face. You could almost feel Frisk’s cheeks even though you weren’t touching them. You gasped in excitement but lost concentration. The wisps burst into sparkly clouds and dissolved.

“that was something.” Sans appeared and walked over to sit beside you on the couch. “you should try again,” he said.

“I wanna do it!” Frisk exclaimed, hopping down to the floor. They took a deep breath and with a soft pop their bright red soul was resting in the palm of their hands. They smiled widely and held it out to you. “Look! I did it!”

Frisk’s soul was a warm ruby red and had a dimmer glow than yours, but it was nearly quintupled in size. Children always had the biggest hearts didn’t they? You could see it softly beating in their palms. Weird…

“Touch it!” they said, pushing their palms into your face. “It’s really cool!”

You glanced over at Sans and asked, “Is it safe?”

He shrugged. You hesitantly reached your hands out and softly poked the soul. It was as soft as a flower petal. Frisk placed it in your hands delicately.

Once their soul was in your hands a maternal feeling washed over you. You could literally feel Frisk’s soul. You were bombarded with hundreds of new sensations – you could hear laughter and child’s chatter, you could feel the warmth of an old blanket just as it came from the dryer and the crunch of grass under your feet, you could smell the scent of picked flowers and freshly baked cookies, you could taste Halloween candy and home cooked dinners on your tongue.

But all of the other senses combined couldn’t compare with what you could see.

It was like you could see everything and nothing at the same time. Images of Frisk laughing with friends at school, getting hugs from their parents, their smile on Christmas morning, playing hopscotch until sundown, watching clouds go by, each of these images flickered by. They were so quick, but you felt like you understood each one perfectly. These must have been Frisk’s happiest memories.

Everything calmed and you were brought back to reality. Frisk smiled up at you as they took their soul back. They placed it back in their chest with ease and then said, “I’m going to go play now.”

They trotted up the stairs as though they knew where they were going. You tried to stand up to go after them and tell them it was rude to snoop through someone’s house, but Sans gently pushed you back onto the couch. “they’ll be ok. for now we should bandage up your wounds.”

He gingerly picked up your hand and started slowly wrapping bandages up your arm. His touch gave you goosebumps and you could already start feeling a blush creep onto your face. You nervously averted your gaze and looked at the floor.

“sorry,” Sans sighed, “i know it’s creepy.”

“What? N-no! It’s not that!” you squeaked. You hadn’t meant to make him feel bad. That was the complete opposite of what you wanted. “Um, it’s just…um,” you took a deep breath, “itjustfeelsreallyniceandtinglyandyourereallygreatandthanksforsavingmeireallylikeyouohdidisaythatoutloudhahamybaddontlistentomepleaseokay.” Your cheeks felt really hot now and you were embarrassed by your outburst.

Sans stopped wrapping up your arm and blinked a few times (what?!). He looked at you and said, “sorry i didn’t catch all that, a bit hard to _‘ear_ ,” he reached over and lightly tugged your ear, “when you’ve got none.”

You giggled. Bad jokes were the best way to diffuse awkward situations. You were thankful that Sans had the decency to not make fun of you.

“it’s strange though, since it’s always the _eeriest_ monsters with the best hearing,” he chuckled. He tied up the bandage on one arm and started working on the other. 

“But you’re not eerie,” you protested. “You’re…well…you’re cute.”

A soft blue glow appeared on Sans’s face and he looked down at your arm. He tied up the second bandage, but he didn’t remove his hand from yours. You wrapped your fingers around his palm.

You weren’t going to lie – touching bare bones was weird, but it wasn’t exactly unpleasant and these weren’t exactly human bones. For the most part his hand was pretty smooth but you could feel a few rough patches along his fingers that you guessed would be the skeleton equivalent of callouses. “Can I look at it?” you asked shyly.

“heh, have at it, buddy.”

You bring his hand closer to you and inspect it. It was just as big as a human hand, but the bones were thicker than usual. You traced your finger along the outer edges of his hand, going over his finger bones (those were phalanges right? You regretted not paying more attention in biology) before circling back to his palm. That was something else as well – he had a single palm bone. You weren’t exactly well-versed in human anatomy, but you did know that the hand was made up of several bones, not just one. You started to massage the bones gently and you let your fingers lightly graze all the nicks and chips in his hand. You wondered if skeletons had finger prints. You placed your hands so they were palm to palm and you noticed that his hands were bigger than yours. You were instantly reminded of something you had seen before…a movie…

“Tarzan!”

“…gesundheit?”

You laughed a little and explained, “It’s a popular human movie. There’s a scene like this where the two characters Tarzan and Jane are palm to palm and it’s when they realize that they’re-” It’s at this point when you realized how intimate and tender of a moment this was and suddenly you felt really awkward.

“that they’re what?”

“Um, that they’re not so different after all!” you hastily make up.

“Nuh-uh! It’s the moment when Tarzan realizes how pretty Jane is and when Jane realizes how pretty Tarzan is!” 

You and Sans turn from your position on the couch to see Frisk standing a few feet from you. Your camera and a photo was in their hand. 

“When did you get here?” you asked, feeling even more embarrassed than before. “And what’s with the photo?”

“You two didn’t even notice I was here! You must really like each other,” they said innocently. “I thought you’d like a photo of the moment you realized your feelings.” Frisk handed the photo to Sans and said, “I’m sure it’d be important to you!”

Sans took the photo and smiled. You shifted so you could see and you were surprised to see that the photo turned out really nice. Since you were so focused on Sans’s hand, you really weren’t paying attention to his facial expressions but you wish you had. His face was relaxed and he was looking at you tenderly. There was a light blush in his cheekbones and a light blush in yours as well. You looked…really happy.

It looked as though you were a couple.

_Wait._

“What do you mean by realize your feelings?” you asked Frisk suspiciously. 

They smiled innocently but you could see a glint of _something_ in their eye. “Isn’t it obvious? You did the hand thing from Tarzan that means you’re together now. Which means you have to kiss!”

“Whoa there, kiddo,” Sans interjected.

“What! I can’t!” you exclaimed.

Frisk looked at you with wide eyes and asked, “Why? Is it because he has no lips?”

You…actually hadn’t thought of that. That was a good point. Yes, you would use that. “Yes.”

“You’re a liar!” 

Damn that kid was perceptive.

You gently gripped Frisk’s shoulders and said, “Look, I get it. We had a moment back there. I know you’ve overheard me gushing over…Serif…for the past few weeks, but listen, I don’t think Sans likes me that way, alright?”

Frisk pouted. “He does too! Look at his face! You made him all blue and flustered! He does like you!”

“kid, please…”

“Frisk, don’t you remember the echo flowers? He…he clearly likes someone else. It’s just the way it is. I know you want us to be together but-”

“heh…ya heard that?”

You let go of Frisk and looked over at Sans. Oops. You hadn’t meant to spill the beans that way. You nodded. “Sorry, I know it must be hard to lose someone.”

“ya listen to the whole thing?”

You felt a little guilty about listening in, but you nodded again. “Sorry,” you apologize again.

“but you’re still here.”

“Well…yeah…”

“but i killed them.”

“What, you weren’t planning on killing _me_ were you?” you jokingly asked. Both Frisk and Sans stiffened. Clearly it wasn’t the time for jokes. “Sans…I don’t know the whole story so…I’m not going to judge you or hold it against you or anything. I mean…you’re still guilty about it, so I get the feeling it was an accident.”

“it was.”

“Right, so…” you grabbed his hand reassuringly, “it’s going to be okay. But I need you to promise me that you’ll stop guilt tripping yourself over this. It isn’t healthy.”

“i really hate making promises,” Sans said reluctantly, “but for you i can make an exception.” He squeezed your hand back, sending flutters through your soul.

“NOW will you kiss?” Frisk asked.

“Frisk, honey, Sans might need a little time before-”

You were cut off by two bony hands pulling your face in for a kiss. It was weird; essentially you were just kissing his teeth, which would normally be uncomfortable and awkward, but it still _felt_ like a real kiss. It still gave you the same pitter-patter in your heart.

_Click._

“YAY!”

You pulled away when you heard the familiar noise and cheering. Frisk was already shaking the photo into clarity. They inspected it thoroughly and nodded in approval, handing it to Sans. Caption: First skele-kiss (expect a skele-ton more)

Well.

That took rushing into things to a whole new level.

But you weren’t complaining.

****************************************************************************************************

The next few hours were spent getting back on track to the important things – meaning, how to call up your shield again.

Frisk was easily able to bring their soul out, but they had a tough time explaining how to do it. “I dunno, I just think of something really happy!”

You thought you had a lot of happy memories, but to be honest you hadn’t thought too much about your life before the fall. Everything was kind of fuzzy and blurred together. But that was normal, right? You’ve had a busy…how long has it been again? Four to five weeks in Snowdin plus another week or so in the ruins. It made sense that your brain was trying to keep up with its new environment.

But, unfortunately, that left you with problems in calling out your soul.

“what were you doing when you did it the first time?” Sans asked, nuzzling your cheek. 

Oh, yes, there was a lot of skele-kisses that happened too, but now you were second guessing it. He was still grieving wasn’t he? You didn’t want to be a rebound, but you liked him too much to say anything. You figured it would be alright for him to indulge himself in a little happiness. Maybe your words were the push he needed? But what he said to the echo flowers just seemed so…personal. It was a moment of vulnerability and you didn’t know if moving on this quickly was such a good idea.

“hey, something wrong?”

You shook your head. “Just lost in thought,” you said. “I was protecting Frisk when I called it out.”

“maybe you just need to envision them in danger or somethin.”

You thought about Frisk getting killed by Undyne. You winced, but your soul didn’t budge. You frustratingly tried to pull it out again, but only the wisps came through. You watched as they weaved between the bones in Sans’s legs before dissipating into sparkly dust.

“I’m never going to be able to face Undyne if I can’t do this.”

Sans looked at you thoughtfully and then said, “i have an idea. close your eyes and focus on the feeling you’re about to have.”

Before you could even ask, you already felt the all-too-familiar tugging at your chest. Sans started to coax your soul out and you closed your eyes. You felt your soul as it left your body. For a moment, you felt empty, but then you were filled with warmth. A comfortable warmth like the kind you feel when you lay out in the sunshine or when you rest in front of a kindling fire. It was a warmth that you felt when someone else was proud of you or when you got the last cookie because someone knew chocolate chip was your favorite. It was the warmth you felt when getting a hug from someone you loved. Ah, that was it. This is what love feels like: cozy and comfortable, warm and fuzzy, happy and blissful.

“hey, look, you did it!” 

You opened your eyes to see your soul resting on your arm. _Protect the things you love_ , you mused. _I guess my soul is taking that literally._

“Alright, then I think it’s time for me to face Undyne.”

Sans’s face fell. “are you sure?” he whispered. “i was hoping this would just be a precaution.”

You leaned over and kissed him lightly on the cheekbone. “I’m sure,” you said. “I think I have to face her in order to get Frisk home. They are my number one priority.”

Frisk hugged you. “You can do it!” they reassured you, “You’re filled with determination.”

“alright, if you’re sure…i know a shortcut.”

****************************************************************************************************

Sans dropped you and Frisk off in front of a large cavern. You were somewhere in Waterfall, but you didn’t really recognize it. You looked up at the cavern’s opening to see Undyne already standing there, waiting for you. 

_How long was she up there for?_ you wondered.

“Seven. Seven human souls and King Asgore will become a god.” Undyne’s voice was booming, and it echoed throughout Waterfall. “Six,” she continued, “that’s how many we have collected thus far. Understand? Through your seventh and final soul, this world will be transformed.” She eyed Frisk, who was standing behind you, clutching your leg tightly. “And we’ll have a spare too, just in case it all goes to hell.”

Undyne scoffed, but continued, “First, however, as is customary for those who make it this far, I shall tell you the tragic tale of our people.”

This piqued your interest. You heard rumors and murmurs of old myths about what happened to the monsters, but no one really taught you much about what really happened. You waited in anticipation.

“It all started long ago…” she paused, “you know what? SCREW IT! WHY SHOULD I TELL THAT STORY WHEN YOU’RE ABOUT TO DIE!” She removed her helmet and you could see the glint in her eye.

Undyne was definitely threatening looking and you couldn’t even see her that well. You shuddered, but stayed determined. 

“YOU!” She shouted, pointing at you, “You’re standing in the way of everyone’s hopes and dreams! Alphys’s history books made me think humans were cool with their giant robots and flower swordswomen. BUT YOU? You’re just a coward! Hiding behind a shield so you could run away from me?! Calling for help in a moment of desperation instead of fighting?! And let’s not forget your wimpy goody-two-shoes-schtick! It’s PATHETIC! You know what would be more valuable to everyone? IF YOU WERE DEAD!!!” 

“Don’t listen to her,” Frisk said. “She always says that.”

“Right now, I can feel everyone’s hearts pounding together! Everyone’s been waiting their whole lives for this moment!”

“Is this true?” you asked Sans quietly. 

“no. she’s talking it up.”

“Now, human! Let’s end this, right here, right now.” 

You felt the tugging on your soul and the world disappear around you. Now it was just you and Undyne. You let the love for Frisk be your guide to creating a shield. You held it up defensively. Undyne smirked and with a wave of her sword your white soul turned green. You felt your foot lock to the ground beneath you. You were stuck in place, only able to pivot.

“Just in case you thought about running away from me again. En guarde!”

**_[MERCY]_ **

“Unless you learn how to face danger head on, you won’t last a SECOND against ME!” She flashed you a manacing smile as she sent a row of arrows at you. You held up your shield which deflected them all.

**_[MERCY]_ **

“Undyne, please, we can work this out, I’m sure we can,” you pleaded.

“Fuhuhu! As if, petty human. You were able to dodge my first attack, now try this!” She sent a fleet of arrows from all three sides. You pivoted and once again managed to deflect her attack.

**_[MERCY]_ **

“For years we have waited, and now, sunlight is just within our reach! I won’t let you take it away from us!” 

“We can work this out some other way!” you cried, deflecting arrow after arrow. No, this wouldn’t do. Her attacks were becoming faster. 

**_[MERCY]_ **

“That’s enough messing around! DEFLECT THIS!” She threw her spear at you, and you ducked right away. Your soul flickered between green and white and you felt your foot ease up from the floor.

“Run away!” you heard Frisk’s voice faintly. 

**_[FLEE]_ **

You ran down the corridor, and Undyne was right on your tail. You slid down the hallway, but she caught up and turned your soul green again with a wave of her hand.

“Quit running away! You won’t escape from me!”

**_[MERCY]_ **

“You know, honestly, I’m doing you a favor, since no human has EVER made it past Asgore!” she said. She pounded her fists on the ground. “So if you think about it, kill you now is an act of mercy!”

She fired some more arrows at you and you were losing HP fast. They were coming from all different directions it was so hard to keep it all straight.

‘left…left…up…right…’

That was Frisk’s voice! Could they see the battle from the outside? This was probably cheating, but it was literally a life or death situation. Left, left, up, right, you deflected Undyne’s arrows.

“I’ll handle Asgore when I meet him, but taking the life of an innocent is never an act of mercy,” you said sharply. Undyne glared.

**_[MERCY]_ **

Undyne flipped her spear impatiently. “STOP being so damn resilient!”

‘Right…left…up…right…down…right…up…’

You moved in time with Frisk’s words. Undyne threw another large spear at you, which you narrowly missed. Your soul began to flicker again.

**_[FLEE]_ **

You ran as fast as your legs could carry you, sliding around the corner. 

Welcome to Hotland!

You felt your soul go green again and Undyne huffed as she got in your space. She was even more threatening looking up close than she was far away. “You’ve escaped from me for the LAST time!” she snarled.

**_[MERCY]_ **

“You know, Alphys told me humans were determined. I see now what she meant by that!” 

‘left…right…up…left…right…up…up…’

The arrows were becoming trickier and trickier to deflect. If you didn’t have Frisk telling you where they were, you probably wouldn’t have survived long. 

Undyne narrowed her eyes. “But I’m determined too!”

You had to give Undyne credit. As head of the royal guard, she was doing her job really well. You told her as much, but she glowered, “Flattery gets you no where.”

Well, worth a shot?

‘left…down…right…up…left…’

**_[MERCY]_ **

Undyne dragged her finger across her neck. You shook, but you were still determined. You have come so far, you couldn’t die now!

“I’m ending this NOW!” she cried out. 

‘right…left…left…up…down…up…right…right…’

**_[MERCY]_ **

“…RIGHT NOW!” she cried out again, though she looked a little less sure.

‘down…down…up…down…up…right…left…’

**_[MERCY]_ **

Undyne fired more arrows and suplexed a boulder. “JUST. DIE. ALREADY!”

Her breathing was heavy and she was starting to lose her composure. Your soul began to flicker and once more you were off.

**_[FLEE]_ **

You ran right into Hotland and over the bridge, not even bothering to look behind you until you were safely across. When you determined that you were safe, you looked back to see Undyne trudging over the bridge.

“Armor…so…hot…” she passed out.

“Oh gosh!” you cried out. Your shield dissolved back into its regular size and returned to your chest. You started panicking. “Oh no! Is she dead? I don’t want her to die!” You glanced around and saw a water cooler. You rushed over and filled a cup with water. You ran back to Undyne and poured it on her head, making sure to coat her gills.

She came to in a matter of seconds, glanced up at you and grimaced. Undyne was suddenly much less threatening. You offered out your hand to help her stand, but she got up on her own and ran in the opposite direction. 

You watched as she left, you were completely speechless. Honestly, you were amazed you came out of that whole ordeal alive. Frisk and Sans joined you.

“She’s headed back to her house,” Frisk said.

“Should we…follow?” you ask hesitantly. You felt a strong urge to make sure that she was doing okay.

Frisk shook their head. “No,” they said. “We can’t. It’s not the right time.” They gave Sans a pointed look. You didn’t really understand what was going on, but you were happy that they were alright. 

You ruffled Frisk’s hair and said, “Thanks for shouting out the directions back there. You’ve got a sharp eye. I wouldn’t have made it without you.”

Frisk nodded and grabbed your hand, leading you into Hotland. “We gotta move on,” they said. You nodded, you did have a long ways to go.

You looked over at Sans, who looked like he was hanging back. “Did you want to come with?” you asked. “I’ve got a _burning_ desire for you to join us in Hotland.” 

He laughed warmly (ha!) but shook his head. “Nah, I get the feeling I know what’s gonna happen next and I don’t think I can be around for it this time. That fight with Undyne nearly gave me a heart attack.”

“Hmm, quite a feat considering you don’t even have one,” you joked, but what did he mean by knowing what was going to happen next.

Sans’s eyes twinkled. “See ya.”

“As Sans or Serif?”

“As Sans. Always.” He disappeared.

You turned to Frisk, who looked very serious. You raised an eyebrow, “What is it Frisk?”

“That was…weird.”

“Hmm, I mean I guess? I don’t really understand what he meant by knowing what was going to happen…”

Frisk furrowed their eyebrows. “I do, but considering…today…” they trailed off and then suddenly brightened, “I just thought he’d want to spend more time with you!” 

You shrugged. “It’s okay, we’ve got plenty of time to hang out.”

“And kiss?” 

You nodded. “Yes. And kiss.”

“You promise?”

“What’s with you? I think you’re the one acting weird!” You exclaimed. The two of you started walking through Hotland when you came across two guardsmen. They eyed you suspiciously.

“Hey! Are you human?” one demanded.

Frisk tried to pull on your sleeve, but you answered, “Yes, I am.” So far the monsters you’ve encountered (save for Undyne of course) had been nothing but friendly, even to humans.

“Bro, they said yes!”

“Well bro, would you like to do the honors?”

With one quick motion, you were sliced in half.

Now you were dead.

**_[RESET]_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BONUS:
> 
> Frisk was determined to make it through the timeline where you didn't die. They knew Sans was crushing hard on you, and as soon as they found out you returned the feelings, they knew they would have to set you up.
> 
> Because if you were too busy getting it on with your skelly-bf, you would stay out of their way and they could finally get the happy ending everyone deserves without you ruining everything by dying again.
> 
> #Friskstrueintentions
> 
> \--
> 
> This chapter was 8000 words I'm so tired =_=
> 
> \--
> 
> And yes, Sans knew you were going to die. Why he didn't try to stop it will be revealed later. *smooches*


	6. First Cooking Lesson with Undyne

Your eyes fluttered open. You felt as though you had been punched in the gut, but you could feel a dopey grin spread across your face. You stared up at the hole that you had fallen through, but you couldn’t see any light shining through. 

_It was daytime when I fell down here, wasn’t it?_

You eyed your surroundings carefully. You were laying in a bed of golden flowers, you figured that they must have broken your fall. You reached over, grabbed your Polaroid, and gave it a quick dust-off. You laid back down onto the flowerbed. This was the most relaxed you had felt in ages. You figured that you could think of a plan of action later…when sleep wasn’t calling your name.

*************************************************************************************************************************************************  
When you woke up, you were no longer in the patch of golden flowers. You were laying in a comfortable bed that was just your size. You stretched and got out of bed, taking in your new surroundings. You were in what looked like a child’s room. There were several tiny pairs of shoes, all in varying sizes. Off to the side of the bed was a box of old toys. You wondered if a worrisome mother had taken you in. 

You noticed that on the desk was a slice of pie, still steaming. A little note was posted next to the fork: _Why did the pie go to the dentist?_ You flipped the piece of paper over. _To get a filling!_ You chuckled and took a seat. You nibbled at the pie crust and the warmth of the dessert filled your stomach and your heart. Butterscotch with a hint of cinnamon. It tasted like home, even though your mother would have never baked you pie.

_Or would she?_

_No_ , you said to yourself. _She definitely hated to cook. It was dad who made sure we were all fed. Right?_ Your head started to hurt so you stopped thinking about it.

When you finished, you grabbed your plate and hesitantly opened the door to your room. You padded down the hallway and into a living room where there was a small human child coloring and a sweet-looking goat woman curled up in a chair reading. She glanced up from her book and removed her glasses. “Oh, hello there my child. I hope you do not mind, but I found you sleeping in the ruins so I brought you back here to safety.”

She stood and took the plate from your hands. “My name is Toriel,” she introduced herself. “This is Frisk, they fell in a few days before you, poor thing.”

Frisk looked up from their drawing and smiled at you. You had the urge to scoop them up into your arms, but you refrained. Instead, you settled for a small smile and a little wave. They nodded at you and went back to drawing. 

You were in such a good mood today, even though all reason and logic said that you shouldn’t be. You were stuck down here with no hope of getting to the surface after all. 

Yet, you couldn’t help but think that maybe it wasn’t going to be such a bad thing.

*************************************************************************************************************************************************  
You and Frisk stumbled out of the ruins. You felt just awful about having to fight Toriel, but it was for Frisk’s sake. Although, you couldn’t help but feel excited about going into the rest of the underground and exploring the area. You had a really good feeling about whatever was on the other side of the door, even though Toriel made it seem as though you were walking to your death. 

Unfortunately, you hadn’t planned on it being so cold out. Frisk looked around the entrance to the ruins with a confused look on their face. 

“What are you looking for kiddo?” you asked, trying to ignore the frostbite forming on your toes. Flip-flops were a horrible decision. 

They mumbled something you couldn’t quite make out, so you shrugged and waited for them to finish snooping around. Kids were so curious, weren’t they? You watched as Frisk started climbing into the snowy bushes, clearly determined to find…something. Finally, you heard them gasp in surprise. You leaned over to see what they found and- 

Oh. 

It’s a skeleton. 

…

You thought you should probably be a bit more alarmed at seeing a skeleton just lying in the middle of the snow, but for some reason you were not worried at all.

It…kind of looked like it was breathing. 

You were about to pull Frisk away and start moving, but they pushed the skeleton roughly in the shoulder. He jumped and his eyesockets flew open. You grabbed Frisk’s arm and swatted it lightly as punishment for scaring random strangers. 

“Sorry about that, they get a bit over-excited,” you apologized on Frisk’s behalf. They pouted.

The skeleton stared at you wordlessly, his eyes(?) felt as though they were burning a hole in your skull. You laughed nervously. “What, never see a human before?” you asked. 

The skeleton looked at you thoughtfully now, fingers stroking his chin before he said, “ _tibia_ honest with ya, never met one who’s so easy on the eyes before. works out for me since i don’t have any” he pointed at his sockets before giving you a wink.

You blushed. _Well that was rather forward_. You had to admit though, that his voice melted your heart almost instantaneously. You could practically feel your soul vibrating out of your chest in excitement. You noticed that the skeleton was looking a bit nervous, so you held out your hand and introduced yourself. He took your hand gently in his and you felt the goosebumps start to appear on your skin. His hand was surprisingly warm to the touch and rather comforting. 

You let your hand linger on his for a few seconds too long before you let go.

“i’m sans, by the way, sans the skeleton. and, uh, this is for you,” he pushed a box into your face and looked away, clearly embarrassed. You took the box from him and peeked inside. The box was filled with warm clothes, a cellphone, and a few packets of food.

You weren’t sure what to say, so you silently put on the sweatpants and boots. At the bottom of the box, you noticed a knitted beanie with tiny bones and snowflakes stitched into the fabric. You took it out of the box and examined it. You eyed Sans and wondered if this had been his.

“i…i thought you might wanna keep your head warm this time,” he said. He looked more nervous than before, so you smiled and pulled the beanie over your head.

“Love it!” you reassured him with a thumbs up. 

“Can we go now?” Frisk asked impatiently, tapping their foot on the snow. You blushed and pulled on the beanie to cover your face a bit. They started walking ahead, you and Sans walked a few paces behind.

“so, i should prolly tell you that i’m supposed to be on the hunt for humans,” Sans drawled.

You decided not to tell him that you couldn’t imagine him hunting anything.

“but, well, ya know, i don’t care much about capturing anybody,” he continued, “but my bro papyrus, he’s a bit of a human-hunting fanatic.”

“Is he now?” you asked. 

“well…” Sans trailed off, “he does his best.” He glanced up, “actually, i think that’s him over-”

Before Sans could finish his sentence, a taller skeleton ran over, worried expression on his face. His long, red scarf was blowing in the wind behind him and the closer he got the more you realized how much he was actually going to tower over you. You shook a little in your boots.

“SANS! I DIDN’T SEE YOU WAITING AT YOUR SENTRY STATION AND I GOT WORRIED AND-OH MY GOD! SANS ARE THOSE HUMANS?!” His eyes lit up (literally) and he started shaking with excitement.

You nodded gently at Papyrus. 

“SADLY THIS IS WHERE YOUR JOURNEY ENDS HUMAN. FOR I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL GIVE YOU A SERIES OF PUZZLES AND THEN CAPTURE YOU. IT WILL BE GREAT. JUST LIKE ME! NYEH-HEH-HEH!” Papyrus turned and rushed away.

You glanced at Sans. “Should I be worried?” you asked.

“nah, my bro wouldn’t hurt anyone intentionally,” he said. He looked a little wistful, as if remembering something sad. You reached out and patted his shoulder comfortingly. “anyway, i got my eyesocket out for ya.”

You continued along the path until you came to a clearing. You pulled out your Polaroid to take a photo – the sight was indescribable – when Frisk tugged on your jacket’s hem. They looked up at you and said, “Can we take one together?”

You held the camera out to Sans, “You mind taking a photo? Couldn’t miss this once in a lifetime shot.” 

Frisk jumped into your arms and you held them close. A warm feeling appeared in your chest as you both smiled for the camera. _Click_. Sans shook out the photo and pulled out a pen from his hoodie pocket (wow he really did have everything) and he handed it to you. Caption: Perfection in a Photo. 

The three of you walked a little further before Sans asked, “into photography?”

You nodded. “Ever since I was little I wanted to be a photographer. They say a picture is worth a thousand words you know. And I’ve always really liked that. Like, well, you could tell a whole story with just one photograph if you have the right lighting and angle and subject and…oh, sorry I’m babbling aren’t I?”

“’sfine. kinda cute.”

You paused. _Wow, he really is forward, isn’t he?_

Before you could say anything in retort, you had reached Papyrus’s first puzzle. He was standing off to the side, looking giddy as ever. “THANK YOU FOR ESCORTING THE HUMANS SANS. I WOULDN’T WANT THEM TO GET LOST BEFORE THEY COULD COMPLETE MY PUZZLES.”

“ya bro. i wouldn’t want them to get _chilled to the bone_ wanderin’ round here,” Sans joked.

“SANS.”

“and they have to do your puzzles too, dunno how they do it. i simply _wouldn’t have the guts_.”

“SANS!”

“Well that’s a shame Sans,” you said.

“huh?”

“For a skeleton, I wouldn’t have pegged you to be someone so… _spineless_.” You dissolved into giggles. Sans started chuckling as well.

“I, UNLIKE MY BROTHER, AM NOT AMUSED BY YOUR ANTICS HUMAN. YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE SOLVING MY AMAZING PUZZLES, YET ALL YOU ARE DOING IS LOLLYGAGGING. EVEN THE TINY HUMAN AGREES, THEY HAVE FINISHED MY ELECTRIC MAZE PUZZLE WITHOUT ME EVEN HAVING TO EXPLAIN IT.”

You looked over and saw that Papyrus was right. Frisk had already made it across the large snowbank. They waved at you. Oh, maybe you should be paying more attention to them instead of…what did Papyrus call it? Right, lollygagging. Maybe you should stop lollygagging.

“really? they figured it out on their own? that’s…quite _shocking_.”

“SANS!”

“i’m sorry bro, but the truth _hertz_ don’t it?”

You started giggling again, this time trying to cover your mouth to appease Papyrus. He glared at you and Sans before recomposing himself. He placed his hands on his hips and exclaimed, “I AM LEAVING. THE TWO OF YOU ARE… _REVOLTING_. NYEH-HEH-HEH!” He turned around and ran away. 

“i better go catch up with him, but, heh, thanks for laughing at my jokes. makes this old bag o’ bones feel good about himself,” Sans stuck his hands into his hoodie pockets, “i’ll be seein’ ya.” 

With a blink of an eye he was gone.

You followed Frisk’s footsteps to greet them on the other side. They took your hand and said they felt good about everything this time. You weren’t really sure what they meant, but you agreed anyways.

Papyrus had a few other puzzles set up for you that you and Frisk solved together. Sans, true to his word, kept his eye socket on you, but he really didn’t have to. Papyrus reminded you a little bit of a puppy – all bark and no bite. You could tell that he became less and less intent on capturing you as time went on, but it left him feeling very conflicted. A few days passed by, and everyday was the same. You and Frisk woke up at the inn (where you were graciously offered free housing thanks to someone calling and reserved a room in your name), you solved some puzzles with Papyrus, and he would tell you to fight him, only to run home exclaiming how he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

But then, it happened.

You fought him.

And you won.

You and Frisk offered your friendship.

Something inside you said that you were friends all along.

Somehow you ended up agreeing to go on a date with him, but when the day arrived and you and Frisk showed up at his house, it was Sans who was waiting at the front door. You couldn’t mask your surprise or your blush ( _blush! What blush? Why am I blushing?!_ )

“hey there kiddo, head inside, papyrus is already starting the spaghetti,” Sans said. Frisk suddenly looked very alarmed and they rushed through the front door. He shifted his gaze towards you and held out his hand, “wanna get outta here? i know a shortcut to a great place.”

You took his hand gently and in a moment you were standing in front of Grillby’s. You felt a little dizzy. _What was that? Did we?_ “Did you _teleport_ us to Grillby’s?”

“heh, i did say i had a shortcut,” Sans said, opening the door for you. 

“Sans, your house is at the end of the block. We could’ve just walked,” you said. He shrugged in response and the two of you entered the restaurant.

“Hey Sans!” 

“Hi Sans!”

“Greetings, Sans!”

“Hiya Sansy~” 

You raised an eyebrow. “Sansy?” you asked. 

Sans blushed a bit at the nickname, but nonchalantly shrugged. He waved hello to the other customers. You figured that he must be a regular, since all but a few patrons welcomed him. A few asked who his hot date was, but you waved them off before he could answer. Sans led you to the barstools where you took a seat and-

PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT.

…

_What?_

You jumped off the barstool and sure enough there was a whoopee cushion under your seat. Sans looked like he was stifling a laugh. “watch where ya sit. sometimes weirdos put whoopee cushions on the seats,” he smiled and you could see the pinpricks in his eyes dance in amusement. You laughed good-naturedly, throwing the whoopee cushion at his face. “anyway, let’s order, whaddya want?”

“Fries okay with you?” you asked. 

Sans nodded and waved the barkeep over. You watched in amazement as a fiery man walked towards you. He had a warm presence about him, literally because of the fire but you also saw a very calm demeanor. But really, the fact that he was made of fire is what intrigued you. You hurriedly opened your backpack and grabbed your camera. You snapped a photo of him as he was in the middle of talking with Sans. _Click._

Oh. That reminded you. You turned to Sans, who had just finished ordering. You shyly asked, “Do you mind taking a picture with me? To commemorate this moment?” Sans nodded, and leaned in, smiling. _Click._ Caption: First date with a 

You were going to write “First Date with a Skeleton” but it didn’t sit right with you, even though it would make a great caption. You hesitated and then settled for writing “First Date with Sans <3”

“hmm, so it’s a date now, is it?”

Your stomach felt as though it were tied in knots. Wasn’t this a date? You were pretty certain it was a date. Did you want it to be a date? You felt your face start to redden. Sans laughed and said, “just messin’ with ya, of course it’s a date.”

Fire man was back with your fries. You immediately shoved a handful into your mouth to avoid saying anything embarrassing. 

“thanks grillbz,” Sans said with a wink. He grabbed the bottle of ketchup and offered it to you. “want any?” you shook your head and Sans shrugged. “more for me then,” he said.

And then he chugged it.

Your jaw dropped and your eyes widened. Did he…? You couldn’t believe what you were witnessing. Sans polished off the bottle and set it off to the side. You stared at him in disbelief. 

“Why on Earth would you do that?” you asked. Your stomach felt queasy at the thought of drinking full bottle’s worth of ketchup.

“to see that priceless expression on your face,” Sans said, grabbing your camera. _Click._ Caption: Can you ketchup with me?

“Ha, ha, you’re very punny, but you know for a first date this isn’t very romantic,” you teased. Although, you weren’t too sure you could take Sans seriously if he were being romantic. In fact, it was hard enough taking him seriously now. This really didn’t feel like a date at all.

Sans only shrugged and said, “sorry, but i got _tibia_ honest with ya, this date has a second purpose…” he trailed off. “normally i wouldn’t ask ya, but i figured…maybe…maybe there’d be a chance ya knew.”

You tilted your head to the side. “Knew what?”

Sans suddenly looked pensive as he looked at his fries. “do ya happen to know anything about a talking flower?”

You shook your head. “No…I’m sorry, I’ve never seen a talking flower before.”

Sans hmmed for a moment and then said, “’sfine. i didn’t think you would.”

“I’m sorry.”

“don’t apologize,” Sans paused and closed his eyes “i think something is out there, something that wants to hurt us. beware of talking flowers, alright?”

You nodded. “Alright.” This date was not what you were expecting. Sans was being so serious now, it almost scared you. You thought this would be funny and full of laughs, but now you felt heavy and burdened. Talking flowers? Something bad? What was going on in the underground?

Sans picked up a fry and then slyly looked over at you. “Hey, what’s the best day to go to a fast-food joint?” He poked your cheek with the fry as he whispered, “ _Fry-day_.” 

And as quickly and as suddenly as the heavy atmosphere settled in, it disappeared. 

You and Sans enjoyed each other’s company for a few more hours. He told jokes and you laughed. You told stories (although you were a bit fuzzy on the details) and he looked at you as if you were the only person in the room. It felt very comfortable and easy when you were with him. After leaving Grillby’s, you and Sans walked along the snowy path back to his house. The cold made you shiver and Sans offered to loan you his jacket. Before you could protest, he was already pulling it around your shoulders. It was warm and the smell of snow and fries mixed with the pine in the air outside made you feel…right. Like you were in the right place at the right time. 

In a moment of bravery, you reached out to take Sans’s hand in yours. You interlaced your fingers and looked away, embarrassed. From the corner of your eye, you could see Sans’s cheekbones turn a beautiful shade of cobalt. What a cutie.

When you reached his front doorstep, neither of you were ready to go inside, so you laid out comfortably in the snow, still holding hands. You felt fluttering in your stomach and vibrations in your soul. “Hey Sans,” you started.

“hmm?”

“You said there were two reasons you wanted to go out on this date with me. What was the second one?” you held your breath in anticipation of his answer. 

“i thought i was bein pretty obvious, takin pap’s place and all, payin for your food, holdin your hand now,” he stopped and chuckled, “you really rattle my bones, ya know that? But, uh, heh, ya know, i guess i just like ya is all.”

You couldn’t see his face, but you were fairly certain he was blushing a brilliant shade of blue. You blushed as well and your heart hammered in your chest. You squeezed his hand tighter in yours and you said, “Well, I like you too. A lot.” You felt really lame confessing your feelings like this, and so suddenly, and so soon, but you couldn’t contain yourself. You did like Sans. He made you feel warm and appreciated and he told bad jokes and he was clearly protective over you AND Frisk…it was just very heartwarming to meet someone who didn’t only care about themselves.

Sans stood up and pulled you up with him. He looked...bashful? His whole face was glowing azure and you were afraid that maybe you pushed it a bit by telling him your feelings. 

“so, uh, these dates…usually they end with something…special, right?”

…

Oh?

Oh.

_OH._

You giggled to yourself and thought it was awfully cute how shy he was being when earlier he was so forward with you. You leaned into him and pressed a chaste kiss on his cheekbones. They burned a brighter blue and he squirmed a bit. You were about to pull back, but he gently grasped the back of your head and pulled you in for another kiss – a real one this time. You assumed kissing teeth would be weird, but you didn’t realize how much of an affect magic might have.

Sure, you could feel your puckered lips on his very bony, non-puckered teeth, but that sensation was almost lost amidst the bubbling warmth that surrounded you, a feeling of both comfort and passion. You felt the world melt away, similar to a battle situation but not nearly so chaotic or scary. Your soul burned in your chest, you could feel it shake so violently you actually were worried about Sans maybe rattling your bones too much. Everything was at peace, suspended around you, while you enjoyed this one moment of bliss and happiness.

Basically, it was a kick-ass first kiss.

When you pulled away and the world snapped back to clarity, Sans’s expression was dazed mixed with a dopey kind of happiness that you probably mirrored on your own face. He nuzzled your face a little and then said, “welp, that was fun. we should do that again sometime.”

You smiled softly and promised, “It’s a date.”

***************************************************************************************************************************************************

You and Frisk left Snowdin a few days later, much to the despair of Sans and Papyrus, who both grew used to having you in their home. You both promised you would visit very soon. Papyrus made sure you and Frisk both had his number on speed dial. 

“MAKE SURE TO CALL HUMANS, I LOVE TO TALK ON THE PHONE. AND, IF YOU EVER NEED HELP, YOUR COOLEST FRIEND ‘PAP’ WILL BE THERE TO GUIDE YOU.” Papyrus adjusted to his new nickname rather quickly. 

“stop by my sentry station in waterfall sometime, buddy, we’ll go slack off at grillby’s or somethin.” 

You gave Sans a goodbye kiss and promised to see him soon, and then you and Frisk were off.

Not long after arriving in Waterfall you met Undyne. She was scary as all hell, but when you were pulled into battle with her Frisk let you know which way her spears were headed towards. You made it out relatively unscathed and had dashed into Hotland when she finally gave up because of dehydration. You rushed to give her some water, but Undyne just looked at you like you were a demon with three extra heads (or would that not be weird here?) and ran away.

**_Ring…ring…_ **

You glanced at your phone. Papyrus? “Hello?”

“HELLO HUMAN. YOU KNOW, I HAVE BEEN THINKING. YOU AND THE TINY HUMAN ARE SO KIND TO ME, YOU’RE REALLY SOME OF MY BEST FRIENDS. BUT, UNDYNE IS ALSO A CLOSE FRIEND OF MINE WHO IS VERY COOL HERSELF. AND, CLEARLY SINCE YOU ARE ALL FRIENDS WITH ME, SOMEONE WHO IS SO GREAT, YOU SHOULD BE FRIENDS WITH EACHOTHER. MEET ME AT UNDYNE’S HOUSE! WE ARE GOING TO BE FRIENDS! NO, WE ARE GOING TO BE BEST FRIENDS!”

He hung up.

Frisk grabbed your hand and smiled up at you. “Everything is going great!” they said.

“Are we really backtracking all the way to Waterfall? It’s a long journey on foot,” you said. Frisk pulled you further into Hotland and then down some steps where you saw a river and a hooded boatman waiting at the edge of Hotland. You glanced at Frisk, “How’d you know this was here?” you asked. Frisk shrugged and winked. That kid was always three steps ahead of you weren’t they?

“Care for a ride?” the hooded figure asked. Frisk nodded and told them they wanted to head to Waterfall. The boatman nodded and allowed you both on to the boat. You started cruising down the river and in just a few minutes you were pulling into Waterfall. “Come again!” the boatman said as you got off. You waved goodbye and you and Frisk moved into Waterfall.

After wandering for a few minutes, you came across Undyne’s house. You…weren’t too sure what you were expecting but it wasn’t this. Her house was a large dome with sharp, protruding fins coming off the edges. The windows were shaped like angry eyes and the door what white with fangs painted across it. The actual house itself was painted a dark purple and black, and it was covered in scales. From the inside, you could hear dramatic piano music being played. It was a looming house, completely fit for Undyne, and it intimidated you a little.

Frisk ran up to Papyrus who was waiting for you by the front door. Papyrus lifted Frisk up in the air and gave them a little hug before waving to you. “HUMAN, I AM SO GLAD THAT YOU DECIDED TO COME!”

“Thanks for the invite, Pap,” you said, although you had a strong feeling that you were not actually welcome here.

“NOT A PROBLEM. ANYTHING FOR MY FRIENDS. HERE, MAKE SURE YOU GIVE THIS TO UNDYNE. SHE LOVES THEM!” Papyrus handed you a bone wrapped with a bow. You took it, but you weren’t sure Undyne would actually love it. In fact, you were pretty sure Papyrus had no idea how to give gifts. Still, you weren’t going to be the one to tell him that.

With Frisk still in his arms, Papyrus knocked on Undyne’s door. The music stopped and the door swung open. Undyne looked much different in street clothes. She wore a black tank top and jeans and even though you could see her bulging muscles (she was ripped!) she looked much more approachable. You breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe you could do this after all. 

“Hey Papyrus, ready for your extra-private one-on-one training?” Not even a second had passed before she noticed that Papyrus was carrying Frisk and that you were cowering behind him. Her smile twitched into a frown.

“YOU BET I AM, AND I BROUGHT SOME FRIENDS!” Papyrus said gleefully. You looked up at Frisk, who didn’t look scared or worried in the slightest. You could not say the same for yourself, as you had already broken out into a sweat. Even without her armor, Undyne was pretty scary.

Undyne’s eyes flickered between the three of you and she took a deep breath. “Why don’t. You three. Come in?” she glowered and turned around, not waiting for a response. 

“COME ON FRIEND! WE’RE MOMENTS FROM TRUE BEST FRIENDSHIP!” Oh…oh Papyrus. You followed him into Undyne’s house. Hopefully you’d live to see this “friendship.”

The inside of Undyne’s house was much more inviting than its exterior led you to believe. You saw the piano off to the side, a small kitchen table in a tiny kitchen, a few spears and arrows lying around but nothing of immediate danger, and a door that probably led to her bedroom. The house was cozy.

“MY FRIEND BROUGHT A GIFT FOR YOU!” Papyrus announced. You looked down at the wrapped bone in your hands and gave it to Undyne. She took it and scoffed.

“Uhh, thanks. I’ll put it with the others.” She opened a drawer that was already filled to the brim with bones and added yours to the stack. Papyrus beamed at you and gave you a thumbs up, which you weakly reciprocated. 

Undyne walked back to the three of you awkwardly. No one said anything until Undyne finally cleared her throat and asked, “So, are we ready to start?”

Papyrus set Frisk down next to you. “WHOOPSY DOOPSY! I JUST REMEMBERED! I HAVE TO GO TO THE BATHROOM! YOU THREE HAVE FUN!!!” He turned and crashed through Undyne’s window. He picked himself up from the broken glass and gave you another thumbs up before disappearing. 

You grabbed Frisk and kept them close as you and Undyne stared each other down. This was really awkward. You wanted nothing more than to follow Papyrus’s lead and jump out the window, but that was clearly not an option.

“So,” Undyne sneered, “why are you here? To rub your victory in my face? To humiliate me even further? IS THAT IT?”

“Of course not!” you exclaimed. “Why on Earth would I do that? Why would I come all this way to bother humiliating you? I’ve got better ways to spend my time than that.”

“Then why are you here?” She paused, and then realized something, “Wait, I get it! You think I’m gonna be friends with you, huh? Right???”

No. You could not see that happening ever. She clearly hated your guts. “Papyrus thinks we would make good friends, so…yes?” you said. 

Undyne blinked and then broke out into a smile. “Really? How delightful! I accept! Let’s all frolic in the fields of friendship!”

…

WHAT. You weren’t expecting that at all! Maybe you underestimated Undyne a little. After all, you were kind of getting into her territory, maybe you could be friends like Papyrus said, it would be really-

“NOT!”

Oh. Yeah. That’s more of the reaction you were expecting. 

“Why would I ever wanna be friends with you?! If you weren’t my houseguest, I’d beat you up right now!”

You were never more thankful to be a houseguest.

Undyne pointed her finger accusingly at you. “You’re the enemy of everyone’s hopes and dreams! I WILL NEVER BE YOUR FRIEND!” She was snarling at you now and barring her teeth. You shook in your boots, wanting nothing more than to leave. This was a bad idea, a horrible idea.

“Don’t listen,” Frisk whispered, gripping your leg. “She’s just being defensive because you helped her that one time.”

“Now get out of my house!” she demanded, finger pointed at the door. You were only too happy to oblige, but before you could even take a step, you heard a loud cough at the window. The three of you looked over to see Papyrus standing outside.

“DANG! WHAT A SHAME. I THOUGHT UNDYNE COULD BE FRIENDS WITH YOU. BUT I GUESS…I OVERESTIMATED HER. SHE’S JUST NOT UP TO THE CHALLENGE.” With that, he disappeared again. 

“Challenge!? What!? Papyrus! Wait a second!” Undyne grit her teeth and then looked over at you and Frisk. “He thinks I can’t be friends with you! Fuhuhuhu! What a joke!” She stomped over to you and leaned in until she was inches from your face. “I could make friends with a wimpy loser like you any day!” She poked you hard in the chest which made you stumble. Undyne laughed again and declared, “I’ll show him!”

Undyne’s eyes gleamed and she was pointing at you again. “Listen up, we’re not just going to be friends. We’re going to be BESTIES!” Oh. “I’ll make you like me so much you won’t be able to think of anyone else!” Oh dear. “It’s the PERFECT REVENGE!” Oh no. What have you gotten yourself into?

Suddenly, Undyne’s demeanor changed. She looked at you sweetly, with her hands clasped together and a smile on her face. Somehow this made you more nervous than the angry glare did. “Why don’t the two of you have a seat?”

Frisk took your hand and guided you to the kitchen table. “It’ll be ok,” they reassured you. “I think she is trying very hard to be our friend now.”

“Comfortable?” she asked, only half forced. You nodded. “Good, good. I’ll get you something to drink.” She took out a few things from her fridge and placed them on the countertops. “What would you like?”

You looked over at the options. Undyne had soda, hot chocolate, and tea. You knew exactly what to get, so you moved to stand. “Wait, no!” Frisk warned, but Undyne was faster.

A spear was shot into the table. It had just narrowly grazed your ear. You stood still, horrified. You glanced down to see the table snapped in half. Sweat began pouring down your face. Suddenly, this felt even more nerve-wracking than before. Undyne looked angry.

“Don’t get up! You’re the guest so sit down and enjoy yourself!” You sat back down and shook with fear. Frisk pet your arm gently. Undyne cleared her throat and recomposed herself. “Why don’t you just point to what you want?”

You took the spear cautiously in your hand and pointed it to the container of cocoa powder. Undyne shifted her feet uncomfortably. “You want hot chocolate?” she asked. You nodded hesitantly. “Wait, wait, I just remembered…that container is empty! I stopped getting it because it was always a hassle! Asgore kept getting marshmallows stuck in his beard!”

Asgore…

That was the king, the person Toriel warned you about a long time ago. Undyne mentioned him in your fight as well. He sounded so threatening…yet…you couldn’t imagine the king of monsters getting tiny marshmallows stuck in his beard. That wasn’t kingly. It certainly wasn’t scary. Furthermore, you couldn’t imagine a tyrant king bent on killing humans relaxing at Undyne’s while drinking hot cocoa. Didn’t he have other things to do? 

You pointed to the tea, it was the second best option. 

“Tea, huh? Coming right up!” Undyne took a few packets of tea from their box and then poured water into the kettle. She turned back to you, sweet smile back on her face. “It’ll take a moment for the water to boil.”

The three of you waited in a tense silence. You watched the steam pour out of the top of the kettle. It whistled and Undyne pulled it off the stove. She took out two cups and poured in the tea. She added a scoop of sugar to each cup and then placed the tea down in front of you. She beamed and said, “Here we are.” Undyne took the seat next to yours and you picked up the cup. You started to raise it towards your lips when she gripped your wrist. You doubted she was using all her strength, but you still felt as though your bones would snap in half. “Careful,” she warned. “It’s still hot. Wouldn’t want my new precious friend to burn themselves.”

She let your arm go and you set the cup back down. 

You waited.

“Okay, it’s not THAT hot! Just drink it!” Undyne demanded. You were getting some really mixed signals from her, but you picked up the cup and took a sip.

It was scalding and you burned your tongue so badly tears sprang into your eyes. You set the cup back down again. “Do you have any ice?” you asked fearfully.

“Oh,” Undyne said, “did you burn yourself? I warned you!” She glanced back at her fridge. “I don’t like cold things, so Alphys upgraded my fridge to heat food instead of cooling it. Hot fridge! So, no I have no ice.” She slammed her fist down on the table and said, “But you should stop being such a wuss! A little burning builds character!” She slapped your back jovially. You winced. That was definitely going to bruise.

“You know…” Undyne said thoughtfully, resting her head in her hand. “It’s strange that you chose the golden flower tea. It’s Asgore’s favorite kind…” she paused and then grinned, a genuine one this time. “You kind of remind me of him actually.”

“Really?” you asked incredulously. You reminded her of the evil king who wanted to destroy human souls?

“Yeah,” Undyne said, still smiling, “you’re both total weenies!”

“I don’t buy for a single second that Asgore’s a total weenie,” you argued. He couldn’t be? If he really was weak, why would Toriel be so adamant that you stay away from him? 

You noticed Undyne’s smile had faltered a bit. She drummed the table with the fingers from her free hand, still resting her head in the other. “You know, I used to be a pretty hot-headed kid. To prove that I was strong, I challenged Asgore to a fight.”

You wondered where she was going with this.

“But I couldn’t even land a single blow. And what’s worse, he refused to fight back. You can’t understand how humiliated I was.” Undyne looked disappointed at the memory. Part of you wanted to gently pat her arm, but you were still too afraid to even look her in eye, so you settled for speaking.

“But he was the king and you were just a kid. He’s probably had years of experience,” you reasoned. 

Undyne gave a halfhearted smile and said, “Yeah, and you know, after the fight was over he asked me if I wanted to know how to beat him. I said yes, and then I began training under him. One day, during practice, I finally knocked him down.”

“Well that’s good isn’t it?” you asked. “That was your goal wasn’t it?”

“It was,” Undyne’s gaze shifted to meet your eyes, “but I felt…bad. He was beaming though, so proud of me, I had never seen someone so happy to get their butt kicked.” Undyne laughed a little and continued, “Long story short, I kept training and became the head of the Royal Guard but…you knew that already didn’t you?”

Oh yes. You were very much well-acquainted with her suit of armor and sword.

“And now Papyrus trains under you, right?” you asked, remembering Papyrus’s gloating about one day becoming a member of the royal guard. 

Undyne’s face twisted into one of guilt. You were surprised to see her let her guard down around you so easily. “Yeah, but to be honest…I don’t know if I could ever let Papyrus into the Royal Guard.”

“What!” you exclaimed, standing out of your chair. “But it’s his dream! It’s all he wants in life! I mean, he went as far as to try and capture two innocent people so he could be in the royal guard! I don’t understand why, I mean he definitely isn’t weak-” 

“Weakness isn’t the problem,” Undyne said curtly, cutting you off. “He’s not weak. Papyrus is pretty freaking tough. It’s just…well, you’ve spent five minutes with him haven’t you? He’s too innocent and nice!”

“She could never send him into battle,” Frisk said, “and that’s why you teach him cooking right!” They beamed.

“Yeah kid! It…wait a second! Papyrus was supposed to have his cooking lesson RIGHT NOW! And if HE’S not going to be here to have it…YOU’LL HAVE TO HAVE IT FOR HIM!” Undyne grabbed you and Frisk and threw you over her shoulders. She threw you down in front of her counters. 

She swiped all the drinks off her counter and pointed at the two of you. “NOTHING has brought the two of us closer than cooking so if we cook together we’ll become closer than you can EVER imagine!”

Suddenly, everything started moving fast. You were certain that this wasn’t a battle, but it certainly felt like one. Undyne shoved tomatoes at you for you to punch (you did it weakly, Frisk did not hold back). She handed you noodles for the pot (you placed them in carefully, Frisk fiercely threw theirs in). When it was time to stir, Frisk said they wanted to do it and began mixing the noodles in as fast as they could.

“You got this kid! YEAH! Show those noodles whose boss! Faster! Faster!!”

You really could not believe what was happening.

**Beep!**

Hmm?

You pulled the cellphone out of your jacket pocket. 1 New Text Message from Sans. You opened the phone to see the text message while Undyne pounded the noodles with her spear (you were not going to ask).

*hows everythin goin? _swimmingly_ i hope.

* Did you really just make a pun right now?

*heh, don’t play _koi_. i know you’re smiling.

* _Gill-ty_. Everything here is fine I guess.

*would ya say things _cod_ be better?

You snap a photo with your phone of Undyne and Frisk mixing noodles. The kitchen was a mess, there was tomato juice all over the floor and wall, boxes of pasta were strewn about the counters, and Frisk looked as though they had come back from battle. You send the photo to Sans.

* _dolphin-ately_ could be worse. but i s’pose everything is fine.

*Thanks for checking in. I think it’s time to boil the sauce.

You pocketed your phone to pay attention to what was happening in the kitchen. Frisk and Undyne were genuinely laughing and having a good time now. You were glad that this all worked out. 

“Time for the final step!” Undyne exclaimed. “It’s time to TURN UP THE HEAT! DON’T YOU DARE HOLD ANYTHING BACK!”

Frisk turned the dial to the stove up. You watched as the flames flickered to life underneath the pot.

“Hotter!” Undyne cried.

Frisk turned the dial even more. The flames began to engulf the sides of the pot.

“Hotter!” Undyne cried out again.

Frisk complied, turning the dial again. The flames were now covering the pot entirely, licking away at the metal and burning the sauce inside. You watched with a sense of mixed horror and curiosity. Smoke began to trickle into the room.

“HOTTER!” Undyne cried, turning the dial herself this time. “Wait, no, maybe that was too-”

There was a loud blast. When you opened your eyes all you could see was fire and smoke. You coughed and covered your mouth to avoid getting smoke into your lungs. You looked around but you couldn’t see Frisk anymore. 

“Frisk?” you hoarsely whispered. “Frisk?”

There was no response. You made your way through Undyne’s kitchen towards the stove. You felt very, very warm. You could make out a shadowy figure through the smoke, it had to be Frisk! You rushed over and helped them stand. They used your shoulder and the counter as leverage for getting up, but in doing so they knocked over a bottle. You combed through their hair gently, blinking away the dust and smoke that was getting in your eyes.

You pushed them towards the window. “Go, get out of her. I’m going to help Undyne.” They nodded and rushed to get out of the house. You turned back into the kitchen and saw Undyne laying on the floor. You shook her forcefully and grabbed her wrist. 

“I really messed this up, didn’t I? I can’t force you to like me. Some people just don’t get along with each other. I understand if you feel that way about me. And if we can’t be friends…that’s okay.”

You chuckled, but it was weak due to the smoke. “Undyne, don’t worry about it. Of course we’re-”

“BECAUSE IF WE’RE NOT FRIENDS I CAN DEFEAT YOU WITHOUT REGRET!”

You felt her forcefully pull your soul out of your chest. You couldn’t believe this. This was not the time for a fight. This was the time to evacuate.

“I have been defeated and my house is in shambles! I even failed to befriend you! That’s it. I don’t care if you’re my guest anymore. One final rematch! All out on both sides! Now come on! HIT ME! HIT ME WITH ALL YOU’VE GOT!”

You blinked. Your lip wobbled. You sighed in resignation and stepped forward. She wanted you to hit her so bad, fine. So be it.

**_[FIGHT]_ **

You swung with all your might.

**_[ -1 HP]_ **

Undyne dropped her spear.

“What. That’s seriously all you’ve got? You have to be kidding me. You can’t possibly be THAT much of a wimp. Heh, can’t muster the courage to really hurt me, can you?” She stepped back. “I guess…I don’t really want to hurt you either.”

Your soul was now back inside you and the hot flames from the fire were hitting you at full force. You and Undyne started to leave to meet with Frisk outside, but the fire suddenly burst and spread. You jumped back while Undyne rushed towards the window. When she looked back, there was already a wall of fire between the two of you. She looked panicked. 

“Go through the front door!” she ordered. You rushed to the door, but a piece of the burning ceiling fell and blocked your way out. You ran back to the kitchen, but Undyne’s house was collapsing all around you. The floor shook as pieces from the walls and ceiling started to fall. A large piece of wood crumbled and landed on you, sending you to the floor. It was too heavy to move alone and you cried out for someone to help you. Flames drew in closer, lapping your skin and burning your clothes. You could hear Undyne calling for help. 

It was too hot to cry tears, but you could feel yourself shake in fear. The flames got closer and closer and so much of the house had fallen you didn’t know if you would get out even if you weren’t trapped. The heat was unbearable and the smoke made it hard to breathe. Your vision started getting hazy and you let yourself scream, louder and louder as the pain and burning sensation got worse and worse.

You could just barely make out some shadowy figures pulling pieces of house away from you, but it was too late.

Now you were dead.

**_[RESET]_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! So next chapter is going to include lots of SOUL talk, so if you wouldn't mind leaving your ideas of what you think the monster souls look like, I would really like some inspiration! 
> 
> Also I'm sorry you died again. 
> 
> BONUS: 
> 
> Undyne glared at you. "I said burning built character but I didn't think you'd really TAKE IT LITERALLY!"
> 
> Frisk wondered if maybe they should just ditch you in Snowdin next time around.

**Author's Note:**

> So I apologize for all the in-game dialogue. I promise it'll be more original in later chapters. Thanks for reading!


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